Amtrak long term service cancellations and restorations (2022-2023H1)

[west point]

Also no sleeper?

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Also no sleeper?

That’s up to VA and since it’s not running in VA…

 

[Ryan]

I wouldn't think that a sleeper between WAS and points north would be up to VA.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I wouldn't think that a sleeper between WAS and points north would be up to VA.

oops, I forgot the sleeper was only available from WAS to BOS.

 

[user 14106]

65/66/67 are returning July 11/12 but it will be without a sleeper and baggage due to changes in the Virginia corridor service. 66 will now be a northbound out of Roanoke and will turn from 151. 65/67 will continue to operate to Newport News but will turn as 124 the following day on weekends And 186 on weekdays.

 

[fdaley]

So, there's no plan to restore the sleeper even from Washington north?

 

[neroden]

While it's good they're bringing back the overnight train, this is not good planning at all. They need checked baggage service to Boston. And given that they weren't running the sleeper south of DC anyway, where the train goes south of DC isn't an excuse to not have a sleeper. Really they should have a Roanoke sleeper daily, since that's an even longer trip than Newport News.


I suppose this is merely the typical level of mismanagement we can expect from the Amtrak clownshow, however, rather than the truly spectacular feats of impressive incompetence we've seen in other areas such as IT.

 

[jis]

So, there's no plan to restore the sleeper even from Washington north?

None outside Amtrak has any idea what the plans are. We are all speculating depending on each of our own biases at present.

 

[amtrakpass]

The checked baggage available shows as part of the services tab in the Amtrak app at least for the Boston-DC portion of of 66/67. Is this a mistake? It doesn't show available for the other regionals so just curious.

 

[jis]

65/66/67 are returning July 11/12 but it will be without a sleeper and baggage due to changes in the Virginia corridor service. 66 will now be a northbound out of Roanoke and will turn from 151. 65/67 will continue to operate to Newport News but will turn as 124 the following day on weekends And 186 on weekdays.

I thought the proposal I had seen was for minimally a VLII Bag and possibly a VLI Sleeper to be dropped off/picked up at WAS. I can see that they barely have enough VL Sleepers in circulation at present to do the Sleeper part, but is there also a shortage now of non-mothballed VLII Baggage cars?

 

[user 14106]

I thought the proposal I had seen was for minimally a VLII Bag and possibly a VLI Sleeper to be dropped off/picked up at WAS. I can see that they barely have enough VL Sleepers in circulation at present to do the Sleeper part, but is there also a shortage now of non-mothballed VLII Baggage cars?

You might be right. I had heard last week on Facebook groups they were dropping the baggage too but the reservation system does indeed still say baggage between Boston and Washington mow that I look so maybe they’re going to add/drop a V2 baggage at Washington. I would imagine if they decide to bring back the sleeper down the road it will be done the same way. There also is still baggage Jobs open at Boston.

 

[bratkinson]

Dropping the baggage from 66/67 would put an end to checked baggage at BOS. Perhaps that's part of the 'plan' to further downgrade 448/449 since they dropped the baggage car a couple years ago.

 

[jis]

Dropping the baggage from 66/67 would put an end to checked baggage at BOS. Perhaps that's part of the 'plan' to further downgrade 448/449 since they dropped the baggage car a couple years ago.

Since 66/67 has not been running there has been no checked baggage service in Boston through the COVID period anyway. But they were hiring baggage handlers for Boston Providence and New Haven. I don't know where that stands at present.

 

[daybeers]

66 will now be a northbound out of Roanoke and will turn from 151. 65/67 will continue to operate to Newport News but will turn as 124 the following day on weekends And 186 on weekdays.

That isn't confusing at all and definitely won't cause passengers to make a mistake. /s

 

[Amtrak25]

On Jul 24, reservation system:
Train 65 shows checked baggage to Newport News from NYP
Train 66 does not show checked baggage from Roanoke to NYP, but does from Washington to Boston.

Very confusing without a timetable, rather than spending all afternoon playing with endpoints to figure what is going on.

This is what I think will go on:

65/67 had checked baggage from Boston to Newport News, but its alter-ego 124/186 does not from Newport News. So the car runs empty and likely to be cut at Washington.

66 has no checked baggage from Roanoke to Washington, but does from there to Boston.

So the baggage car they cut from 124/186 with the diesel at about 8pm is likely to be added to 66 at 930pm with the Motor.

Why this lack of symmetry with this train from Roanoke and Newport news is beyond me.

 

[OBS]

The logical move would be to add and remove the baggage car with the Electric engine (and potentially the sleeper) in Was.

 

[user 14106]

Seems many people have a lot of passion for this train almost like it’s a long distance train even though it isn’t. Maybe just because it’s a historic service that traditionally ran with a sleeper. I think a sleeper option on the corridor is great but in this time of lack of staff I’d rather see the focus on getting back 97/98 and the proper capacity on the other LD trains than the sleeper on the overnight regional - it’s great they’re bringing back the train as a late night option - but I’m not crushed over the lack of sleeper. Down the road when things are better system wide then the sleeper and baggage could be re added and just cut the car in at Washington.

 

[jebr]

That isn't confusing at all and definitely won't cause passengers to make a mistake. /s

Amtrak, at least on the website, won't even let me book a ticket with just a train number. I'm not sure how it would cause anyone to make a mistake, and outside of us railfans likely would either not be noticed at all, or at most be met with a "huh, that's different."

 

[MARC Rider]

Amtrak, at least on the website, won't even let me book a ticket with just a train number. I'm not sure how it would cause anyone to make a mistake, and outside of us railfans likely would either not be noticed at all, or at most be met with a "huh, that's different."

When you book a flight, all most people really care about are the departure and arrival times and whether the flight is nonstop, a through flight, or whether you have to change planes. OK, all that, plus the fare. They probably don't care about where the plane came from, and where it's going after they get off, and in any event, I think the airlines are always changing the routing of the actual aircraft to optimize their use. The traveler remembers the flight number long enough to get to the gate at departure and find the right luggage carousel after they land, and then forget about it.

The same is probably true of most Amtrak passengers, except that there aren't any real nonstop runs between major cities. People who are making moderately complicated train trips involving connections could benefit from a timetable and a route map, which isn't as necessary when planning a flying trip. Oh, yes, and they might like to know the facilities available on the train. Beyond that, we're getting into railfan geekery, which is fun, but really not necessary to plan a trip.

The oddity of the northbound NEC overnight train running from Roanoke to Boston, whereas the southbound NEC overnight train running from Boston to Newport News is probably just a case of Amtrak trying to optimize their (currently) limited pool of equipment and accommodate a second Roanoke train. I would guess it would be easy enough to attach or remove sleepers and baggage cars in Washington, where the locomotives are changed. Of course, that might be delayed because of equipment and staff shortages.

 

[MARC Rider]

Seems many people have a lot of passion for this train almost like it’s a long distance train even though it isn’t. Maybe just because it’s a historic service that traditionally ran with a sleeper. I think a sleeper option on the corridor is great but in this time of lack of staff I’d rather see the focus on getting back 97/98 and the proper capacity on the other LD trains than the sleeper on the overnight regional - it’s great they’re bringing back the train as a late night option - but I’m not crushed over the lack of sleeper. Down the road when things are better system wide then the sleeper and baggage could be re added and just cut the car in at Washington.

The overnight train lost its sleeper around 2003 and 2004, and just had it restored right before Covid screwed everything up. It did a great business, even without a sleeper. I took it several times between Boston and Washington between 2007 and 2014 riding business class. It was a perfectly OK 9 hour ride in the recliners. The 2x1 business class was, of course the best, but even when they had to use the 2x2 full Amfleet 1 business class car, it was a fine ride. I got as much sleep as I'd get from a 9 hour ride in a roomette. I would not recommend the Amfleet 1 coaches for the full 9 hour ride if one wants to sleep, though. It would be far more important for me that the baggage car service to Boston be restored, as that was the only train with a baggage car running the NEC north of New York. Frankly, I would love to see a few more of the Northeast Regionals run checked baggage like they used to do in the 1980s, but I'm not sure if the new Siemens order includes any provision for checked baggage compartments.

 

[River in Sight]

Ugh - I just spent the past few hours at DCA trying to fly up to BOS for a meeting tomorrow. Due to thunderstorms, I had three flights cancel and ended up back at home, missing tomorrow’s meeting. Would’ve been an absolutely perfect application for an overnight sleeper car (even if my planned flight had worked out: vs the $350 I had spent on a hotel plus the $200 or so one-way airfare) except it doesn’t currently exist. I really enjoyed using this option last summer and sure wish it would come back.

 

[Willbridge]

The overnight train lost its sleeper around 2003 and 2004, and just had it restored right before Covid screwed everything up. It did a great business, even without a sleeper. I took it several times between Boston and Washington between 2007 and 2014 riding business class. It was a perfectly OK 9 hour ride in the recliners. The 2x1 business class was, of course the best, but even when they had to use the 2x2 full Amfleet 1 business class car, it was a fine ride. I got as much sleep as I'd get from a 9 hour ride in a roomette. I would not recommend the Amfleet 1 coaches for the full 9 hour ride if one wants to sleep, though. It would be far more important for me that the baggage car service to Boston be restored, as that was the only train with a baggage car running the NEC north of New York. Frankly, I would love to see a few more of the Northeast Regionals run checked baggage like they used to do in the 1980s, but I'm not sure if the new Siemens order includes any provision for checked baggage compartments.

I rode Boston to BWI in Amfleet 1 coach in 1987. The leg-rest coach that was assigned for long-distance passengers had been bad-ordered. Sleep was intermittent. Interesting passenger activity.

 

[RebelRider]

Rumor going around is the consist plan for the new service will be four Amfleet I coaches and a split-club for the cafe and business seating. No baggage car. The sets will be captive to BOS--NPN--NYP--RNK--BOS

This is going to make for some miserably full trains, especially on corridor.

 

[KnightRail]

Not a glitch. I've heard from reliable sources that it was returning on July 11. And apparently it's only running between WAS and BOS. Guess VA isn't ready for it.

VA is very much ready for it, just took a little longer to reprogram the changes south of WAS. 66 now begins in Roanoke. 65/67 will continue to end in Newport News. The equipment will be standard regional sets and not dedicated smaller sets with the club-dinette(split cafe/business class) like before.

Roanoke:
•151(NYP-RNK)
turns for same day’s
•66(RNK-BOS)

•171(BOS-RNK)
turns for next day’s
•176(RNK-BOS)

Newport News:
•67(BOS-NPN)
turns for same day’s
•186(NPN-NYP)

•125(NYP-NPN)
turns for next day’s
•174(NPN-BOS)

Edit: Now saw much of this has already been covered in the separate thread on this topic.

 

[jis]

Moderator's Notes: At least a dozen posts specific to the Southwest Chief derailment have been moved to the Southwest Chief derailment thread:

https://www.amtraktrains.com/threads/southwest-chief-derailment.82424/
Please continue the Southwest Chief derailment related service modification in that thread and leave this thread for long term cancellations and restorations.

Thank you for your understanding, cooperation and participation.