Northeast Regional discussion 2022-2024 H1

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"Dedicated" IMO seems to be more of a suggestion, than a standard from my observation when riding these days. With that said, there is one conductor I get once in awhile who seems to stay dedicated to the business class car when he works the train. He has a great sense of humor, but is no non-sense when a situation warrants it.
The Carolinian used to have a dedicated Business Class attendant - I'm not sure if they still do or not. Coach and Business Class Attendants are part of the On Board Service Staff - the Conductor is part of the operations staff.
 
HI I would like to travel on the northern regional train from DC to NYC. The only train that has a checked baggage service is the Cresent,. The acela does not suit timetable wise for the date I need so my question is about NER. There is no way I could lift or pull down a large suitcase. I know there is a red cap service but that will help you get on but not get off. My question is does the northern regional train have space at the end of the carriage for suitcases and if so, how much space? Does the train start the journey in DC as this would mean you would be more likely to get one of those spaces. Thank you in advance for your help
 
HI I would like to travel on the northern regional train from DC to NYC. The only train that has a checked baggage service is the Cresent,. The acela does not suit timetable wise for the date I need so my question is about NER. There is no way I could lift or pull down a large suitcase. I know there is a red cap service but that will help you get on but not get off. My question is does the northern regional train have space at the end of the carriage for suitcases and if so, how much space? Does the train start the journey in DC as this would mean you would be more likely to get one of those spaces. Thank you in advance for your help
Some NERs originate in DC, some originate in Virginia.

You should be able to request a red cap meet your train in NYC. Ask the conductor to radio ahead for one.

There is some space at one end of each car for larger bags.
 
Some NERs originate in DC, some originate in Virginia.

You should be able to request a red cap meet your train in NYC. Ask the conductor to radio ahead for one.

There is some space at one end of each car for larger bags.
Thank you. One more question, is there a regular sales pattern. I can see $35 for July trips which seems very reasonable but wondering whether I should wait a while for a sale.
 
If you really want to have seat on the Northeast Regional facing forward, all the business class seats in the 2x1 club-cafe business class seats face forward. These are found on the Vermonter, on the 65/66/67 overnight trains to Boston and on one of the Roanoke trains (151 southbound, not sure of the number on the northbound version.)
 
Thank you. One more question, is there a regular sales pattern. I can see $35 for July trips which seems very reasonable but wondering whether I should wait a while for a sale.
Amtrak uses yield management like the airlines so prices tend to go up as you get closer to your travel date. I would grab it, if a sale happens you could always cancel and rebook.
 
HI I would like to travel on the northern regional train from DC to NYC. The only train that has a checked baggage service is the Cresent,. The acela does not suit timetable wise for the date I need so my question is about NER. There is no way I could lift or pull down a large suitcase. I know there is a red cap service but that will help you get on but not get off. My question is does the northern regional train have space at the end of the carriage for suitcases and if so, how much space? Does the train start the journey in DC as this would mean you would be more likely to get one of those spaces. Thank you in advance for your help
Just happen to be sitting near the luggage area. The area on the left and the rack on the right are for luggage that can’t fit above the seats. The floor area on the right is not available for luggage - it is the wheelchair accessible seating area.
The rack can also be converted to a bike rack.
IMG_8794.jpeg
 
Yesterday, train 134, delayed roughly an hour from its start in RNK, added an extra 89 minutes in delay between BCV and ALX. I understand that with the train that far off schedule, it's not super surprising to have a delay joining the RF&P, but would conductors typically announce that situation before the stop at Burke Centre, or are you as a rider just going to learn about it when you pull up and hold along Eisenhower Avenue before the switches for an hour and a half?

I ask because I've got a trip coming up in a few weeks in which I'm riding CVS-ALX to pick up Metro to National Airport. I've got plenty of padding for an hour late into Alexandria, but 2.5 would be a different story. If they're likely to announce that major a delay in advance, then I'd probably take my chances, but if it's going to be a surprise, I'll be hopping off at Burke Centre and coughing up for Uber the rest of the way.
 
On a BC car on the Cascades form Seattle to Vancouver BC teh attendant said the seats are not turned because of their age: they are liable to break and no spare parts are available.
 
If you really want to have seat on the Northeast Regional facing forward, all the business class seats in the 2x1 club-cafe business class seats face forward. These are found on the Vermonter, on the 65/66/67 overnight trains to Boston and on one of the Roanoke trains (151 southbound, not sure of the number on the northbound version.)
Not only this, but they still do flip these seats because it's a single lever and does not require tools. It's so easy that a passenger could (but probably shouldn't) do it.
 
On a BC car on the Cascades form Seattle to Vancouver BC teh attendant said the seats are not turned because of their age: they are liable to break and no spare parts are available.
It is amazing how often people will come up with a rational-sounding excuse for not providing a service.

It is right there in the Big Book of Amtrak Excuses - Page 313.
 
My most typical train travel is between Wilmington, DE and NYC. Wilmington being in the middle of the route, seats can be hard to find as it is. Luckily, for my next trip (booked before they started the backwards seats) it made economic sense to use Acela northbound and business class southbound. Amtrak changed my seat on the southbound but its still forward facing.

Going forward, if the price difference between coach and Acela/business is too high I'm going to consider Greyhound. Two hours isn't too bad on a bus, and I'd rather do that than ride backwards. Schedule isn't quite as convenient but is doable- Port Authority is actually more convenient to my destination (theatre distict) than Penn Station. Luckily, I ususally am booking a few months in advance and often am able to get cheaper fares- sometimes Acela is actually lower than coach.

Point is- I doubt I'm the only NEC rider who will consider other options to avoid having to pay top dollar to ride forwards.
If riding forward is essential I believe you can ask the conductor to help you find a forward facing seat - and they can ask if anyone is willing to switch. The vast majority of people don't care about riding backwards and I'm sure there is probably almost always someone who would voluntarily swap seats if asked - I certainly would. With Greyhound you lose quite a lot of legroom and its much less comfortable - for me it's way more of a downgrade than riding backwards on Amtrak but to each their own I guess... (I'll ride forward if I have the choice but I really don't care if I have to ride backwards.)

I don't have an issue riding backwards, but I know some do. What's interesting to me is that so many people talk about how Amtrak needs to be more like European trains, Now they have it and they don't like that idea.
Many people also praise Brightline as a model too. And guess how the seats are configured on Brightline..... Granted they have all assigned seating. Seems like going to all assigned seating is probably the best way to resolve this issue.
 
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This poster does think Amtrak is overly pushing the NEC to detriment of the other routes. However, checking the status map of the NEC trains it become evident that with just a very few exceptions the NEC trains are very close to on time. For example today Sun at 12:40 every train is showing green except 69. That means all are less than 10 minutes late for NEC trains and less than 30 minutes late for trains originating outside of NEC,

This on time operation will attract many repeat riders and be passed on to previous non riders. That is going to persuade many persons away from airlines and driving especially during marginal weather either present or forecast. That is going to bring many more riders to the NEC. Now the lack of on time outside the NEC is going to diminish riders so the efforts of the FRA to improve same is very very important. It will probably take some legislation and more 2 main tracks to improve the on time. Just look at how trains from CLT <> Raleigh run on time or make up lost time almost every train. Of course, Incidents can be understood by most passengers.
 
The NEC is really the only part of the country where passenger rail is a significant part of the transportation mode mix. No wonder Amtrak and its political overlords pay so much attention to it. In fact, one can argue that the funding for long-distance services and Amtrak's contribution to the State-run services is basically a political deal to induce non-NEC Representatives and Senators to support Federal funding for the NEC. Passenger transportation in the Northeast (That's 9 states and the District of Columbia) really would grind to a crawl if there were no NEC train service.

The real challenge is to make this magic happen in other parts of the country. Most of the corridor services seem to be having trouble exceeding 4-6 trains a day in each direction. There are some exceptions -- The Keystones and Empire Service, of course, but they are really branches off the NEC. The Pacific Surfliner and Capitol Corridor in California are another, though I don't know about their market share relative to other modes. Brightline in Florida is coming on strong, and will be pretty impressive when they also have commuter rail connections. Brightline West has possibilities, but to meet its full potential, they'll need to be able to run their trains to a more central location in Southern California than Rancho Cucamonga. Aside from those exceptions, though, there's really not a big push to increase funding for the other State-run corridors to have hourly intercity service and associated regional rail and good transit connections.
 
Aside from those exceptions, though, there's really not a big push to increase funding for the other State-run corridors to have hourly intercity service and associated regional rail and good transit connections.
Did you overlook Chicago and the various corridors?

Cascades Corridor gets an honorable mention as well. And of course North Carolina is trying but it's got a long ways to go but still they are pushing for everything they can and getting somewhere.
 
Did you overlook Chicago and the various corridors?

Cascades Corridor gets an honorable mention as well. And of course North Carolina is trying but it's got a long ways to go but still they are pushing for everything they can and getting somewhere.
Other than Chicago - Milwaukee with 8 round trips per day, the other Chicago based operations do not exceed the 5 or 6 trains per day that seems to be the threshold that is hard to exceed outside of the NEC.
 
Did you overlook Chicago and the various corridors?

Cascades Corridor gets an honorable mention as well. And of course North Carolina is trying but it's got a long ways to go but still they are pushing for everything they can and getting somewhere.
Most have only 3-4 round trips per day. The Hiawatha has 7, and the Piedmont/Carolinian and CHI-STL service have 5. With that kind of frequency, you're not going to have significant market share. There are 17 BOS-WAS trains a day, plus more NYP -WAS and NYP PHL trains each day. That's what all the corridors should be aiming for.

12 Capitol Corridor trains/ day between Oakland and Sacramento, 7 of which also serve San Jose.
6 Cascade trains/day plus the Coast Starlight serving Seattle - Portland, only 2 per day serving Seattle and Vancouver, BC
10 Pacific Surfliners per day serving LA and San Diego, 5 to Goleta and Santa Barabara, and 2 to San Luis Obispo.
 
The NEC is really the only part of the country where passenger rail is a significant part of the transportation mode mix.

Most have only 3-4 round trips per day.
Sorry.. I don't think I understood your point. Originally you said "passenger rail is a significant part of the transportation mix" - I definitely think Chicago qualifies when you count all of the Amtrak corridor trains, Metra, and South Shore.
 
I would think the online population of each route would be a factor in trains' market share. On population alone, for example, it seems likely that the Downeaster, with five round trips per day, is capturing a bigger share of the total Boston-Portland travel market than a Chicago-St. Louis service with the same number of frequencies, given that Chicago is bigger than Boston and St. Louis is much more populous than Portland.

Of course, distance is a factor too. Boston-Portland is less than half the distance of Chicago-St. L, so likely there are more people shuttling back and forth between BON and POR. And when you get to distances like Chicago-St. Louis and Chicago-Detroit, planes start to take a more significant share.

Anyway, no question that more frequencies will capture more market share. But what constitutes the optimal level of service on each route is probably influenced by these other factors.
 
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I would think the online population of each route would be a factor in trains' market share. It seems likely, for example, that the Downeaster, with five round trips per day, is capturing a bigger share of the total Boston-Portland travel market than a Chicago-St. Louis service with the same number of frequencies, given that Chicago is bigger than Boston and St. Louis is much more populous than Portland.
shouldn't that be the other way round?
 
Well, assuming the trains have the same capacity, five trains serving a much larger market will necessarily be carrying a smaller share of that market.
from that point of view, yes. I thought you were implying that market share should necessarily be higher for places with lower population.
 
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