Amtrak Pennsylvanian service may end (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh: bus, safe, train)

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by eschaton

IIRC, the reason why Amtrak's service past Harrisburg is so cruddy is because they do not own the rail lines they run on, but contract to ride on freight lines. Therefore they can neither upgrade the rail lines (freight carriers don't care if their lines aren't fast), they have to ensure they don't run when the track is in use for freight, and sometimes they're even required to pull over to let freight trains pass.

I grew up riding the train from the Pgh to Mt. Union where my grandparents lived. He was a P & LE engineer and one of the perks was free rides for us. Great way to travel.

My wife had never ridden on the train so I planned a great weekend trip to Altoona to watch the Bucco's AA team, the aptly name Curve, for a weekend of games. (she's a baseball fan).

What a cluster.... The train was 2 hours late leaving Pgh, 3 hours late leaving Altoona on the return trip. We had to pull over to a sidling and wait 1.5 hours on the way to Altoona for a freight train to pass us. Needless to say, we missed Friday nights game. Not a good experience for my wife.

It's a great way to travel when they hit their deadlines. Hope they find a way to save it.

[pman]

Originally Posted by Copanut

I grew up riding the train from the Pgh to Mt. Union where my grandparents lived. He was a P & LE engineer and one of the perks was free rides for us. Great way to travel.

My wife had never ridden on the train so I planned a great weekend trip to Altoona to watch the Bucco's AA team, the aptly name Curve, for a weekend of games. (she's a baseball fan).

What a cluster.... The train was 2 hours late leaving Pgh, 3 hours late leaving Altoona on the return trip. We had to pull over to a sidling and wait 1.5 hours on the way to Altoona for a freight train to pass us. Needless to say, we missed Friday nights game. Not a good experience for my wife.

It's a great way to travel when they hit their deadlines. Hope they find a way to save it.

Belying Amtrak's reputation for being late, the train arrives in Harrisburg 18 minutes early. A return trip the next day gets to Pittsburgh 30 minutes ahead of schedule.
According to Amtrak, eastbound trains to Harrisburg arrived within 10 minutes of the scheduled time 97 percent of the time in the past year. Westbound service to Pittsburgh had an 87 percent on-time performance.

Amtrak's regulars treasure the Pennsylvanian - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
when was this? It generally runs on time since they severed it at Pittsburgh. My experiences are in line with the article, most times it's 15-30 minutes early into Pittsburgh and 10-20 minutes early into Harrisburg. the problem is only partially about freight control, back in the 80's I believe conrail ripped out track and interlocking meaning there are limited options which is largely why it takes longer today than it did in the 1930's. in other words, it's not just the freight owner, but that the line is no longer built to accommodate passenger trains.

[airwave09]

This is depressing to read in light of this thread topic:

AMTRAK ADVANCES PLANS TO ACQUIRE NEW HIGH-SPEED TRAIN SETS FOR NORTHEAST CORRIDOR: In order to better meet strong and growing ridership demand on the Northeast Corridor (NEC), Amtrak is advancing plans to acquire new next-generation high-speed train sets and ending its plans to purchase 40 additional high-speed passenger cars to add to the existing Acela Express fleet. In early 2013, Amtrak will issue a Request for Information (RFI) to formally start the process that will replace the existing 20 Acela Express train sets and add additional train sets to expand seating capacity and provide for more frequent high-speed service on the NEC. “Moving directly to new high-speed train sets is the best option to create more seating capacity, permit higher speeds, and maximize customer comfort all while improving equipment reliability and reducing operating costs,” said President and CEO Joe Boardman. He explained that the previous plan to add 40 new passenger cars with newer technology to the older Acela train sets was a stop-gap measure, posed technical challenges and was determined not to be cost effective and insufficient to handle new ridership growth projections. Boardman made the announcement before a Congressional committee saying that in the past two years Amtrak has moved forward a number of major proposals designed to address the NEC’s growth and development needs. The proposals are detailed in the Amtrak Vision for the Northeast Corridor 2012 Update Report. First, is the NEC Upgrade Program to bring the corridor up to a state of good repair, add additional capacity to allow limited service growth, and make targeted trip-time improvements for all existing intercity, commuter and freight services. Among the elements is the Gateway Program to build vital track, tunnel and station capacity into the heart of Manhattan to support Amtrak and commuter rail growth. Second, is the next-generation high-speed rail program to provide America’s economic, political and cultural capitals in the Northeast with the world-class 220 mph high-speed service the region deserves. With possible operating profits over a billion dollars annually and ridership well into 40 million riders a year upon full build-out, Amtrak expects that private capital, probably in the form of a public-private partnership, could play a significant role in this project. Boardman said the international experience with high-speed rail projects is that “only after the public sector has allocated significant funding and committed itself to a project of this magnitude that the private sector is willing to enter the deal and deliver value for money.” Adding that, “[o]nce these services are generate revenue streams, these projects can and will attract private funding that can help repay initial capital costs.” He went on to say he is certain Amtrak has been a good steward of the NEC noting that he is “confident that we have mapped out a workable plan, and that our search for a truly regional solution to the challenges of capacity will be successful.” In FY 2012, Amtrak set a national ridership record of 31.2 million passengers, including a new record of 11.4 million riders on its Northeast Corridor services. In addition, the introduction of high-speed Acela Express service in 2000 has transformed the air-rail market in the Northeast. Today, Amtrak carries three passengers for every one airline passenger between New York and Washington, and carries more passengers between New York and Boston than all the airlines combined—making Amtrak not simply an alternative, but a preferred choice. (Amtrak)

Its a proven strategy for rail that if you build/invest in it they will come. The problem is if you don't build/invest to make it competitive, then they won't come. And if you are PennDOT and Amtrak you can then use that chicken/egg situation as an excuse to cut the service entirely.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by pman

Amtrak's regulars treasure the Pennsylvanian - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
when was this? It generally runs on time since they severed it at Pittsburgh. My experiences are in line with the article, most times it's 15-30 minutes early into Pittsburgh and 10-20 minutes early into Harrisburg. the problem is only partially about freight control, back in the 80's I believe conrail ripped out track and interlocking meaning there are limited options which is largely why it takes longer today than it did in the 1930's. in other words, it's not just the freight owner, but that the line is no longer built to accommodate passenger trains.

It was about 7 years ago, things may have changed, but my wife won't do it again.

[pman]

Originally Posted by Copanut

It was about 7 years ago, things may have changed, but my wife won't do it again.

that's about it. they cut the train back to pittsburgh (from chicago) around then, I think. interestingly, ridership in Pittsbrugh was lower before they cut the train probably in part because it was far less reliable than the train today. given the one a day status there's probably not much of a selling point to try it again anyway.

[Copanut]

OK, pop quiz.

Why did they lock the doors to the mens/womens rooms 1 mile out of the station prior to 1976?

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by Copanut

OK, pop quiz.

Why did they lock the doors to the mens/womens rooms 1 mile out of the station prior to 1976?

Because train toilets flush on the tracks. I had no idea that wasn't still the case now.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by Moby Hick

Because train toilets flush on the tracks. I had no idea that wasn't still the case now.

You win, that is when they stopped that practice.

[Moby Hick]

I wonder why they stopped so long ago here. In Europe, the trains still flushed on the track when I was there in the 1990s. Maybe there was a great Hobo Diarrhea Epidemic of '75 or something?

[UDResident]

This is ridiculous. I've ridden that line before and it was very scenic and worth the time it took.

I wouldn't want to ride it every day of course but it's a line that deserves to exist.