Amtrak Pennsylvanian service may end (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh: college, tax, living in)

[gg]

Originally Posted by JacksonPanther

How is the remaining train service in the other direction - west?

Instead of worrying about going to Philly and NY, head west, and make Chicago your big-city destination. As someone who has lied in both, Chicago beats the pants off Philly as a city.

Chicago is okay, but I will take DC and NYC as a destination any day. I sure wish there was a fast train to those two places. I don't care about Philly that much to be honest, but from there at least you can get to DC and NYC.

[pman]

Originally Posted by JacksonPanther

How is the remaining train service in the other direction - west?

Instead of worrying about going to Philly and NY, head west, and make Chicago your big-city destination. As someone who has lied in both, Chicago beats the pants off Philly as a city.

It's even longer to get to chicago and the market is weaker. the top three markets that are relevant to land based transportation from Pittsburgh are NY, Philly, and DC...Philadelphia is more or less on the way to ny as well. megabus had a chicago service...flopped. and while you and h curtis may not care about Philadelphia, obviously people do since they travel there. it's also a much shorter drive.
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/...al-gem-636715/

[greg42]

The Capital Limited still goes to DC and Chicago, doesn't it? The route east is different, at least after a point; it does not go through Philly at all.

[pman]

Originally Posted by greg42

The Capital Limited still goes to DC and Chicago, doesn't it? The route east is different, at least after a point; it does not go through Philly at all.

correct. instead of getting philly on the way to ny you get harpers ferry on the way to DC. rather than a 7h20m train rider vs a 5.5 hour car trip you have an 8 hour train trip vs a 4.5 hour drive.

[greg42]

Originally Posted by pman

correct. instead of getting philly on the way to ny you get harpers ferry on the way to DC. rather than a 7h20m train rider vs a 5.5 hour car trip you have an 8 hour train trip vs a 4.5 hour drive.

Been a while since I checked it, I thought it was 7 hours. Anyway, I was mainly reacting to a) someone saying Chicago and b) saying Philly was a gateway to NY and DC, which it really isn't since there's a direct route to DC.

The timing does not compete well with, say, Megabus. If I didn't want to drive to DC, I'd probably try that.

[gg]

How sad. We couldn't even get this little run.

Maglev items up for auction - Pittsburgh Business Times

Lets face it, people in our region are all about driving SUVs and Pickups with the occasional car thrown in. People don't want it as a whole. Even if they built a great train route to DC, people would still drive. I hate driving anymore myself, but most people love it I think.

[Stijl Council]

Originally Posted by JacksonPanther

How is the remaining train service in the other direction - west?

Well, not long ago I was looking at the possibility of doing a graduate program at Case Western, which would've required commuting into Cleveland, staying for a couple days, then commuting back. The one Amtrak option would've had me leaving Pittsburgh around midnight and getting into Cleveland around 3:00 a.m.

I've done the train to DC and liked it, although the schedule is so inconvenient (it wouldn't have been so bad if I'd gotten more than 24 hours in DC). The train was comfortable and the experience was overall quite pleasant.

All things being equal I prefer trains to buses and I strongly prefer trains to driving myself or flying. But it only makes sense in really limited circumstances from here. Chicago is so cheap to fly into most of the time that it's hard to justify a ten-hour trip for more money. DC is a short enough drive that I can pick the kiddo up from school, get on the road, and be there in time for a late dinner.

[pman]

Originally Posted by greg42

Been a while since I checked it, I thought it was 7 hours. Anyway, I was mainly reacting to a) someone saying Chicago and b) saying Philly was a gateway to NY and DC, which it really isn't since there's a direct route to DC.

The timing does not compete well with, say, Megabus. If I didn't want to drive to DC, I'd probably try that.

it's 8 hours. today you are correct; however, as noted, it is possible to improve service to Philadelphia that would also provide improved service to NY and DC. regarding chicago, a pittsburgh chicago train would also require PennDOt to pay for it which seems less likely than Pittsburgh-Philly.

h_curtis-the proposal to go to the airport doomed it to not being taken seriously by anyone. had they proposed a real city pair, it probably never would have happened anyway, but it would have been less of a joke in people's minds.

[doo dah]

I was curious about Greyhound vs Amtrak fares to Philadelphia. I used Feb 13 as a departure date.
Standard fare Amtrak one way is $54.00 (leaves 7:30 AM)
Standard Greyhound $59.00 (express or regular); $29 advance purchase; $33 web only; and $67 refundable (express leaves 6:35 AM)
Megabus is $23, leaving at 6:20 AM, by the way.

and just for fun, flying starts at $146.79, one way. Um, with one stop, in DC, Newark or Detroit (!). Nonstop starts at $385.89. Round trip was not cheaper.

[UKyank]

Given the terrain between Pgh & Harrisburg I'm not sure that true HSR would even be possible without some crazy expensive bridging & tunneling involved. Higher then current speeds are definitely doable though.