Amtrak replacing 2 northeast regional trains with Palmetto??

[Palmetto]

I think a lot of that is driven by the quality of the trip. If they end up on a good train (on time, friendly crew, good food), they'll see train travel as "Hey, this is pretty nice!" And want to come back.

Make the train late, replace the crew with non-performers and kill the food and that turns into "Amtrak sucks, I'm never getting on a train again".

Gee, that's how I feel about a bus ride

 

[AmtrakLKL]

The new Viewliner II sleepers should generate some more money, for example.Charging fees for pets should generate some more money.

Making *all* tickets e-tickets should eliminate some expensive backend processing costs.

The first deliveries of sleepers are just under a year out, and I'm not holding my breath on that schedule.

As is typical of change at Amtrak, all the employees are moaning and groaning about how horrible pets onboard will be. But from what I've heard about the Chicago/Illinois pilot, it hasn't been an issue at all. Now that passengers can officially bring their pet, they don't have to buy a fake service animal papers online and throw a conniption fit when someone dares question them. It also raises ancillary revenue and may even boost ticket revenue with new passengers who wouldn't otherwise travel without their pet. With the current 7 hour travel limit, I'm not sure if pets will happen LD trains given there can be many hours between scheduled station stops not including delayspets

All Amtrak Thruway buses are now eTicket eligible. About the only transportation left is third-party common carriers such as Greyhound where Amtrak sells seats in connection with a train segment. Amtrak just started to convert these routes to eTicket as well with final rollout coming by the end of 2015. The third-party carriers won't have Amtrak scanners, but there will be some system logic in place to automatically lift those tickets. Once that is complete I believe all transportation will be eTicket. Some ancillary charges still generate paper tickets, though.

 

[Palmetto]

Do pets get a seat check? No, I'm not kidding.

 

[jis]

Do pets get a seat check? No, I'm not kidding.

No they get a carrier tag They don't get a seat so they couldn't possibly get a "seat" check.

 

[neroden]

All Amtrak Thruway buses are now eTicket eligible. About the only transportation left is third-party common carriers such as Greyhound where Amtrak sells seats in connection with a train segment. Amtrak just started to convert these routes to eTicket as well with final rollout coming by the end of 2015. The third-party carriers won't have Amtrak scanners, but there will be some system logic in place to automatically lift those tickets. Once that is complete I believe all transportation will be eTicket. Some ancillary charges still generate paper tickets, though.

"Transportation certificates" and every other form of voucher need to go to e-ticket form. I know "transportation certificates" are still paper and that has to end. Along with all the weird obscure ticket types (I know Amtrak finally did 10-rides, how about all the types of commuter passes, how about open sleeper tickets, etc.) Then Amtrak has to wait a year for all of the old paper ones to be used. THEN Amtrak can get rid of all the back-end paper processing.

 

[user 1215]

So when I saw this thread I was excited, hoping to see another Regional extended to Savannah. I don't mind adding the extra stops if the OTP South of WAS can be maintained. I would be really happy to see more trains in Savannah. I mentioned in another thread that the parking lot at SAV has been pretty consistently full for weeks now. I would love to see the Northwest side of the station full, too!

 

[jis]

I have dreamed about a section of the Carolinian getting detached from it and being sent to Savannah, but it will require some timetable tweaking to make it work. Alternatively the midday Piedmont consist could be used for a Raleigh - Savannah service via Columbia. But all of this becomes very hard to justify absent any participation from SC or GA.

 

[Philly Amtrak Fan]

I have dreamed about a section of the Carolinian getting detached from it and being sent to Savannah, but it will require some timetable tweaking to make it work. Alternatively the midday Piedmont consist could be used for a Raleigh - Savannah service via Columbia. But all of this becomes very hard to justify absent any participation from SC or GA.

I would rather see Charlotte/Atlanta daytime service before Raleigh/Savannah.

 

[jis]

it would be nice, but it is almost impossible to achieve that without finding an additional consist, just due to the way the timings of the current Piedmonts work out.

 

[Acela150]

Do you think All Aboard Ohio's proposal is feasible? Remember this is coming from Ohio and we all know there's no money coming from the state.

http://allaboardohio.org/2015/09/22/new-report-restore-passenger-rail/

Not as long as Kaisch is governor. He squashed the Three C proposal (Cleveland-Columbus-Cincinnati) as soon as he became governor. He called passenger train supporters "cultists." He's worse than Scott Walker.

From the report:

"What if if the State of Ohio didn’t have the responsibility to create (or chance to prevent) the new trains and instead there was a federally-driven and -funded planning process to identify the feasibility of these and other possibilities as well as a federal grant program to pay for new train services to and through Ohio?"

The Sunset East??? THE FAA??? OHIO???

TR7 you getting your popcorn ready??

 

[user 1215]

I have dreamed about a section of the Carolinian getting detached from it and being sent to Savannah, but it will require some timetable tweaking to make it work. Alternatively the midday Piedmont consist could be used for a Raleigh - Savannah service via Columbia. But all of this becomes very hard to justify absent any participation from SC or GA.

I would rather see Charlotte/Atlanta daytime service before Raleigh/Savannah.

As long as the dream machine is on, I'd love to see a highly efficient Nancy Hanks III join ATL-MACON-SAV.

Amtrak continues to succeed in Georgia in spite of the state.

 

[jis]

As long as the dream machine is on, I'd love to see a highly efficient Nancy Hanks III join ATL-MACON-SAV.

Amtrak continues to succeed in Georgia in spite of the state.

I am with you on that one Venture, both the dream train (I'd make it Atlanta - Macon - Savannah - Jacksonville) and the comment about Amtrak and Georgia.

 

[user 1215]

As long as the dream machine is on, I'd love to see a highly efficient Nancy Hanks III join ATL-MACON-SAV.

Amtrak continues to succeed in Georgia in spite of the state.

I am with you on that one Venture, both the dream train (I'd make it Atlanta - Macon - Savannah - Jacksonville) and the comment about Amtrak and Georgia.

Oooo - I like the idea of extending it to JAX. But, then you can't have just one trainset with a same day turnaround. But with dreams, all things are possible!

 

[jis]

True that. Similar situation with a daytime Raleigh - Savannah train as a continuation of a Piedmont too.

 

[neroden]

181 typically turned from 158 or 188. Once these changes take effect, 89 will not turn from PD42. However, it will remain a mixed AM1/AM2 train with 3 additional AM1s on the head end to accommodate the local travel. The baggage car and business class will go to the rear. On weekdays, it will add stops at MET, NBK, PJC and BWI. On weekends, it will add stops at MET, BWI and NCR.

90 will add stops at NCR, BWI and MET daily.

This should be interesting to say the least.

The major problem I see with this is the inconsistent choice of station stops. Stopping at BWI and MET is great. Stopping at NCR on weekends and northbound weekdays but skipping NCR and stopping at NBK and PJC on southbound weekdays.... is just *confusing*.

 

[Thirdrail7]

181 typically turned from 158 or 188. Once these changes take effect, 89 will not turn from PD42. However, it will remain a mixed AM1/AM2 train with 3 additional AM1s on the head end to accommodate the local travel. The baggage car and business class will go to the rear. On weekdays, it will add stops at MET, NBK, PJC and BWI. On weekends, it will add stops at MET, BWI and NCR.

90 will add stops at NCR, BWI and MET daily.

This should be interesting to say the least.

The major problem I see with this is the inconsistent choice of station stops. Stopping at BWI and MET is great. Stopping at NCR on weekends and northbound weekdays but skipping NCR and stopping at NBK and PJC on southbound weekdays.... is just *confusing*.

That's one of the reasons I said it will be interesting, particularly if a crew works the train on a weekday and weekend. Eventually, that leads to entertainment.

However, the major problem is if 90 runs extremely late or 89 has a problem with the through section.

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

If the Palmetto is a couple of minutes late and my NJT train is on time next week, I may see the Palmetto at PJC and will take an informal poll of how many people board there. Also, I need to go to Philly next Thursday and am thinking of taking the Palmetto from TRE, so will let you all know how full it looks, etc., if I do that.

 

[neroden]

Honestly, why don't they just pick one set of stops and leave it at that? :huh:

 

[Acela150]

Because on the railroad nothing makes sense...

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

Good morning--here is my report on the first day of the Palmetto stopping at PJC:

It was 11 minutes late into PJC and was led by AC-S #620. Its consist was several (sorry, didn't count exactly) Amfleet Is, the café car, several Amfleet IIs, the business car, and one of the new baggage cars. The conductors were directing people who were going short distances to the Amfleet Is. Ironically, if you paid more to sit in business class, you would be in an Amfleet I instead of a more comfortable Amfleet II.

There were at least 50 people on the platform, and after the train departed, there were just a handful left. So, at least on the first day, a lot of people got on at this small station (I think more than I have seen get on 181).

In my opinion, PJC would be a good Amtrak stop for more trains. It would get the Princeton intellectuals, who take trains as a matter of course, and the rich Princeton-area businesspeople going to DC or even New York. The crowds waiting to take NJT into New York at rush hour are huge at PJC, and if they are going to put up with NJT for an hour, I'm sure they would gladly take Amtrak, either north or south, if the trains were offered.

 

[jis]

It is good to see at least one LD (though daytime) stop at more NJ stations. NJ-ARP has campaigned for such for a while now.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

One long train. It was about 20 mins late into WIL which meant I wouldn't see it as my SEPTA train came in, as I usually do. So I got to my office window just as it was still pulling into the station.

If you zoom in you'll see the engine on the right side of the pic and the bag car on the left side.

 

[neroden]

In my opinion, PJC would be a good Amtrak stop for more trains.

Frankly, I think every Amtrak train should stop at Princeton Junction. And the Dinky should be upgraded to a light rail line with multiple stops which runs through downtown... but Princeton U administration is irrationally hostile to train service, so I doubt I'll ever see this.

 

[jis]

Stopping every Acela in the middle of the few and far between real high speed segment would seem like an overkill. There is good reason to stop some Regional trains at Princeton Junction. but stopping every train there is plain silly. I agree that the dinky should be modified to become a light rail system with stops in town

 

[Philly Amtrak Fan]

It is good to see at least one LD (though daytime) stop at more NJ stations. NJ-ARP has campaigned for such for a while now.

Perfect ... for the New Jersey ite who wants to go to Savannah!!!