448/449 Bustitution

[Rasputin]

Just as the swallows return each year to San Juan Capistrano so the bus seems to return each spring to replace 448 and 449 between Boston and Albany for an extended period of time. This is done by Amtrak in order to remove any doubt that 448 and 449 are the least respected trains in the Amtrak system. These trains and their passengers get no respect.

Discontinued Monday - Thursday between May 1 and June 17. Can you imagine this happening to the New England States years ago!

I wish everyone on the bus trip between Boston and Albany well. It is a poor experience. Try not to eat your small package of crackers all at once.

This bus trip makes the occasional City of New Orleans bustitution between New Orleans and Jackson, MIss. look like a Cadillac experience.

https://www.amtrak.com/alert/lake-shore-limited-track-work.html

 

[NSC1109]

Directly from the above link:

“Train 448 will follow the above schedule change on Sundays, June 5 and 12.”

Blaming Amtrak for adjustments due to track work being performed by another entity?

 

[Tlcooper44]

Good to know.
Ill be taking 448/9 in early June to Albany and ill remember to book accordingly.

 

[Rasputin]

Directly from the above link:

“Train 448 will follow the above schedule change on Sundays, June 5 and 12.”

Blaming Amtrak for adjustments due to track work being performed by another entity?

Thanks for the correction on 448.

This seems to happen every year. It is sort of tiresome I don't understand why something better cannot be worked out.

 

[Sidney]

The only Amtrak route I never took was 448 from Boston to Chicago. I live in Pa. and was going to take that route a week from Wednesday,overnight in Chicago and take the Texas Eagle to LA. No way i am going on a bus. Now I'm leaving out of NYP. Upside is I get to use the best metropolitan lounge in the country at Moynihan Train station.

 

[NSC1109]

Thanks for the correction on 448.

This seems to happen every year. It is sort of tiresome I don't understand why something better cannot be worked out.

I know nothing of the MBTA so I am by no means an expert, but my educated guess is that the infrastructure projects are such where a bustitution is more cost-effective for passengers than operating the segment by rail. Late spring into the summer is the start of the MoW season and there are a lot of major projects to be completed before things freeze over.

It isn’t ideal, and I doubt you’ll find anyone at Amtrak who says it is ideal, but in the end it becomes a choice between the lesser of two evils.

 

[bms]

Thanks for the correction on 448.

This seems to happen every year. It is sort of tiresome I don't understand why something better cannot be worked out.

448/449 is my favorite route in the East, but I've learned that booking any summer travel on the route leads to a 50% chance of a bustitution. I'm with you, don't understand why this line would need ten times as much track work as any other. Amtrak should at least offer the Boston passengers the option of taking 48/49 and transferring to the Northeast Corridor to Boston.

 

[bratkinson]

For a number of years, the bustitutions were the result of Cheap Skate Xpress doing trackwork Between Worcester and Springfield. That was while I was still working at CSX Intermodal in West Springfield so I was always aware of the work. They were doing 'drainage work' as well. Riding 449 from BOS-SPG during those years, it was obvious the track had been redone and side drainage ditches dug deeper.

Then they took up working mostly between Springfield and where the line splits before crossing the Hudson and Amtrak heads for Renssellaer, ditchwork, and even some bridge timber work from what I saw from Amfleet windows. But for the most recent years, now that CSX sold WOR-BOS to the Commonwealth of MA and it's MBTAs' problem, they've been busy as beavers bringing the BOS-WOR trackage up to the standards they need for faster service.

Who's doing what these days, I have no idea.

The 'basic plan' has been to suspend most daylight trains through whatever area they're working on, so 448/449 are always a casualty. Such is life. It's no different than the NS doing their annual 'blitz' along the route of the Crescent and that train is annulled south of Atlanta for several weeks.

It's not like the railroads are 'beholden' to Amtrak. They mostly want Amtrak off THEIR rails! Why should they interrupt a work crew of maybe 50 men and 20-30 machines along a single track line to let Amtrak go by...perhaps an hour more more late? Putting passengers on a bus is financially more responsible than halting a large track crew for a couple of hours to make the section of track passable and then 'deadhead' to a siding, perhaps several miles away from the work area!

 

[neroden]

448/449 is my favorite route in the East, but I've learned that booking any summer travel on the route leads to a 50% chance of a bustitution. I'm with you, don't understand why this line would need ten times as much track work as any other.

MBTA is catching up on decades of deferred trackwork from when CSX and Conrail owned the line. MBTA acquired the line from Framingham to Worcester circa 2012, and it was in crap shape thanks to the bad policies of CSX. The line east of Framingham wasn't in great shape either.

So a lot of this is actually upgrades. Track has been slowly replaced with continuous welded rail at a known design temperature, which it was not when MBTA got it.

There are more changes scheduled: Worcester Station is going to be getting a major platform upgrade soon; the tracks though the former railyard in Boston have to be rearranged and realigned; a new station is being built there; three commuter stations are being rebuilt; various sections are getting extra passing track; you get the idea.

The announcement specifically says it's MBTA work. MBTA's priority is improving their commuter service. I'm surprised, however, not to see any MBTA train suspensions on the same days. (In fact, the MBTA's new hourly clockface schedule from Worcester to Boston seems to be active!) It used to be that it was mostly CSX work west of Springfield causing the suspensions, which of course did not affect MBTA, but this says it's MBTA work. Maybe there's also CSX work.

They really ought to run it to Springfield when there's only MBTA work, but I guess they don't feel comfortable servicing it at Springfield. Amtrak management is lazy.

 

[bms]

MBTA is catching up on decades of deferred trackwork from when CSX and Conrail owned the line. MBTA acquired the line circa 2012, and it was in crap shape thanks to the bad policies of CSX. So a lot of this is actually upgrades.

Fair enough! I wish they would give Boston passengers the option of continuing on 48 from ALB-NYP, then the Northeast Corridor NYP-BOS.

 

[neroden]

Fair enough! I wish they would give Boston passengers the option of continuing on 48 from ALB-NYP, then the Northeast Corridor NYP-BOS.

Amtrak certainly should suggest this option! And similarly for those heading for Springfield. Or Vermont via Springfield.

 

[Tlcooper44]

Probably has to do with the station upgrades at Wellesley Farms, Wellesley Sq, Wellesley Hills, and Natick center.
There’s also talk of triple tracking Wellesley to Framingham to ease bottleneck during evening weekday runs. I was riding the Worcester Line today and noticed all of the work and buildup of materials alongside the tracks.

 

[EchoSierra]

Am I reading this correctly? Monday through Thursday? So the Friday trains will operate with train service?

 

[NSC1109]

MBTA is catching up on decades of deferred trackwork from when CSX and Conrail owned the line. MBTA acquired the line from Framingham to Worcester circa 2012, and it was in crap shape thanks to the bad policies of CSX. The line east of Framingham wasn't in great shape either.

So a lot of this is actually upgrades. Track has been slowly replaced with continuous welded rail at a known design temperature, which it was not when MBTA got it.

There are more changes scheduled: Worcester Station is going to be getting a major platform upgrade soon; the tracks though the former railyard in Boston have to be rearranged and realigned; a new station is being built there; three commuter stations are being rebuilt; various sections are getting extra passing track; you get the idea.

The announcement specifically says it's MBTA work. MBTA's priority is improving their commuter service. I'm surprised, however, not to see any MBTA train suspensions on the same days. (In fact, the MBTA's new hourly clockface schedule from Worcester to Boston seems to be active!) It used to be that it was mostly CSX work west of Springfield causing the suspensions, which of course did not affect MBTA, but this says it's MBTA work. Maybe there's also CSX work.

They really ought to run it to Springfield when there's only MBTA work, but I guess they don't feel comfortable servicing it at Springfield. Amtrak management is lazy.

Legitimate question: Is Amtrak management lazy, or does Springfield not have the facilities to handle a turnaround service? I believe that Albany is the closest crew base/servicing area, so it would make sense to cut it there. It may not be feasible to service the consist at Springfield.

 

[Rasputin]

This reminds me of the Gary Larson cartoon of the woman in veterinary school. It shows her studying a long list of horse maladies. The solution shown to the right of each malady is the same: "Shoot."

With 448 and 449 no matter what the problem is, the solution is always the same: "Cancel" or in railroad terminology "Annul."

 

[neroden]

Legitimate question: Is Amtrak management lazy, or does Springfield not have the facilities to handle a turnaround service? I believe that Albany is the closest crew base/servicing area, so it would make sense to cut it there. It may not be feasible to service the consist at Springfield.

Amtrak terminates and turns around a whole bunch of trains at Springfield (the "Shuttles"), and an entire commuter line reverses there (the "Hartford Line"), soooooo it has the facilities to turn the trains around.

Would Amtrak have to bus some crew from Albany or from Boston to Springfield? Sure. So do that.

It's barely possible that every single storage track is filled to the gills at Springfield, but I don't think so.

 

[Railroad Bill]

Glad we were on 448 and 449 in April and avoided the bustitutions. We got messages from MBTA saying the service was going to be limited the next week and busing would likely take place for their passengers on weekends.

 

[20th Century Rider]

The only Amtrak route I never took was 448 from Boston to Chicago. I live in Pa. and was going to take that route a week from Wednesday,overnight in Chicago and take the Texas Eagle to LA. No way i am going on a bus. Now I'm leaving out of NYP. Upside is I get to use the best metropolitan lounge in the country at Moynihan Train station.

So do the sleeper car passengers who paid the big bucks... who are also stuck on the bus... get an extra package of crackers?

 

[John Santos]

Often they bustitute 5 days a week, but this year it's only 4. Maybe it's cheaper to have everyone work 10 hours 4 days/week than 8 hours 5 days/week, and it lets them run normal schedules 3 days instead of 2 days? If it takes an hour/day to set up and finish out the work each day, they would get in an extra 2 hours of actual useful work done each week, which doesn't sound like much but for a six week project involving 50 people, it adds up.

The T web site doesn't mention any service interruptions on the Framingham/Worcester line, so maybe all the work is being done between Worcester and Springfield?

In particular, they claim all the PTC/ATC work on the south side (including the F/W line) was completed last year, but my local commuter rail line (the Fitchburg line which uses North Station) was shut down for March and April due to PTC installation. That is supposedly finished now, but a week ago, I was on a car trip that crossed the tracks several times and I saw new welded rail positioned along the ROW appearing ready to install. Maybe the same on the Worcester line?

 

[MARC Rider]

So if are riding a sleeper and you contact customer relations after the bustitution, do you get a voucher? I was bustituted once from Pittsburgh to DC when they were daylighting a couple of tunnels on the CSX line, and they gave me a voucher in consideration for the missed sleeper service. The irony was that we were several hours late into Pittsburgh, but after we got on the buses, we got into DC on time.

 

[Rasputin]

So if are riding a sleeper and you contact customer relations after the bustitution, do you get a voucher? I was bustituted once from Pittsburgh to DC when they were daylighting a couple of tunnels on the CSX line, and they gave me a voucher in consideration for the missed sleeper service. The irony was that we were several hours late into Pittsburgh, but after we got on the buses, we got into DC on time.

Yes, I have gotten a voucher when my sleeper reservations between Boston and Albany on 448 and 449 were cancelled. It is not much as I recall.

In 2019 my wife and I were bustituted from New Orleans to Jackson, Miss where we joined the train (we had reserved a bedroom New Orleans to Chicago) and then on the same trip after reserving a roomette Chicago to Boston,, we were bustituted Albany to Boston due to the annual track work fiasco. As I recall for these two bustitutions we were given a voucher for about $120 (that was $120 for both of us not each of us) I thought that was rather lowball.

I will say that the New Orleans to Jackson bustitution was a Cadillac experience compared to Albany - Boston (and no, sleeping car passenger to the Albany - Boston bus did not receive any extra crackers.)

 

[user 14106]

Am I reading this correctly? Monday through Thursday? So the Friday trains will operate with train service?

That is correct. I’m riding SPG-CHI on June 11 (a Friday) and it’s a train. Pretty sure I heard this was CSX work not MBTA but not 100% sure.

 

[NSC1109]

That is correct. I’m riding SPG-CHI on June 11 (a Friday) and it’s a train. Pretty sure I heard this was CSX work not MBTA but not 100% sure.

The Amtrak release specifically says it’s MBTA work, unless you’re referring to something different.

 

[neroden]

The Amtrak release specifically says it’s MBTA work, unless you’re referring to something different.

Amtrak press release could be wrong? It's happened before. Maybe this is actually CSX work despite the press release.

 

[fdaley]

Directly from the above link:

“Train 448 will follow the above schedule change on Sundays, June 5 and 12.”

Someone should tell Amtrak that June 5 and 12 are Saturdays, not Sundays. I'm guessing they mean Sundays, June 6 and 13, and that they just copied the dates from last year's press release. In past years, neither 448 nor 449 ran Mondays through Thursdays, and 448 also was canceled on Sundays.