west point
Engineer
Yes there are a lot of colleges on Amtrak lines. The problem there is not much Amtrak for those students to go home or aunt Millie. Yes they can get to many big cities. Every route added gives another possibility for students .
Still - a lot of colleges and universities are in relatively isolated rural towns served by Amtrak. Davis, California is certainly part of the Sacramento metro area, but it's far enough that someone without a car will look seriously to Amtrak to get there or elsewhere on weekends. In California, Amtrak has service to relatively isolated college towns like Arcata (Humboldt State), Chico, Merced, Bakersfield, San Luis Obispo, or Santa Cruz.Yes there are a lot of colleges on Amtrak lines. The problem there is not much Amtrak for those students to go home or aunt Millie. Yes they can get to many big cities. Every route added gives another possibility for students .
California actually isn't all that densely populated. I looked at all the UC and CSU campuses, and I think maybe a couple aren't really served by some sort of Amtrak service. That includes some middle of nowhere places like Chico or Arcata. And the place that don't have service include Northridge or Long Beach, which have access to Amtrak via other services like Metrolink.California with its extensive train and thruway bus systems is an exception. Only the NEC can compare favorably/.
No, ILR's in Ithaca. The Med School is in NYC on the grounds that it was impossible for doctors to properly learn medicine without experiencing the diseases of a big city.Cornell U is mostly in Ithaca, but their Weill-Cornell Med School and School of ILR is in NYC Opening this year will be their new research institute (jv with Technion of Israel) on Roosevelt Island.
The Clemson station has been served by only a connecting bus from Greenville for the past year. Although trains will once again stop in Clemson, it is reliant on Norfolk Southern track work of which no completion date in known.Another town that has Amtrak service with a major university is Clemson. And the public transit will actually take you from the college to the station for free even at the horrible hours the train calls at Clemson it's still possible to use it. Even though be careful on the southbound using transit. And I can speak for its ridership it attracts more students (university traffic) then other people in the local area.
The most memorable passengers there is this couple one goes to University of Virginia and one attends Clemson. So once a month one goes south the next month one goes north. Amtrak we make long distance go the distance.
Notre Dame is in the town of Notre Dame, but it borders South Bend; I think it is close enough.Isn't South Bend college town?
When I lived in Omaha in '71 and '72, the BN was sitll running football specials to Big Red's home games at Lincoln....Dear Old Nebraska U isn't too far from the new Lincoln station, beings that the campus and downtown are right next to each other. However, I haven't seen many students hanging around at midnight to board the Zephyr. Maybe if I came back at 3am there might be more going to Chicago.
One could always take the #208 Pace bus west to Golf/Waukegan to get off, then transfer to the next northbound #210 bus to get up to downtown Glenview. Or another idea is to take the #208 bus to Golf/Harlem, and then the #423 bus northbound till you got to Glenview. You could do vice versa to get back, though I'll note the #210 and #423 buses end early in the evening on weekdays, and that it has NO weekend service. I sometimes have on weekends(when desperate) taken the #208 Pace bus along Golf Road to Harlem, then walked the 25-30 minutes north into Glenview! Or vice versa back after getting off at Glenview, providing I walked to Golf/Harlem in time before the last eastbound #208 bus.I have actually done this exact connection with Metra on the UP North Line from Evanston, IL to catch LSL 49 to Springfield, MA in June 2016. It was a pretty easy connection, though the walk from the Metra stop at Olgivie Transportation Center to Chicago Union Station is not very well marked.I would say any city with connecting rail service to Amtrak should count. My top choice college, Northwestern, is in Evanston, Illinois, a town without Amtrak service. However, there is frequent Metra and CTA rail service to downtown Chicago where they connect with a short walk to Amtrak. Glenview station is even closer, although there is no direct rail service between Evanston and Glenview, in addition to the fact that Glenview is a stop on only the Empire Builder and Hiawatha Service. Contrast this to other towns, where Amtrak may stop in the same city as the college but is not within walking distance and lacks effectiveness public transit if any exists whatsoever. One example of this is the University of Central Florida. Although it is in Orlando and relatively close to both the Orlando and Winter Park stations, there is not convenient public transit to either.
University of Notre Dame is definitely within South Bend, IN. It is NOT it's own separate town from South Bend, not sure why you thought that. There are a few nearby municipalities outside of South Bend though, such as Roseland(this is a very tiny one most people forget about), Mishawaka, and Granger to name examples. And yes a lot of people do take the South Shore Line besides Amtrak to get to South Bend, since the fare is cheaper(vs. Amtrak) from Chicago.Notre Dame is in the town of Notre Dame, but it borders South Bend; I think it is close enough.Isn't South Bend college town?
To build a bit more on the Minnesota-specific options:Winona State University in Winona, MN, University of Minnesota and Macalester College not far from the St. Paul stop(plus I suspect more I'm forgetting), Purdue University in West Lafayette(you'd get off at Lafayette, and it's across the river), and IUPUI and Butler University in Indianapolis. Wouldn't be surprised if I'm forgetting some other Midwest colleges, but unfortunately some places have graveyard train arrival times(i.e. Cincinnati having both only a late at night Cardinal train and only 3 times a week, Fargo, ND having the daily Empire Builder come in both directions late at night, etc). I think Saint Cloud, MN has a Minnesota public college too(a la Winona), but the train times are early in the morning and late in the evening. Not as bad as Fargo's train times for the EB, but keep that in mind.
Here is a citation as to Notre Dame's location: http://colleges.startclass.com/l/1402/University-of-Notre-Dame. Here is the Wikipedia article of the town (technically a CDP): https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notre_Dame,_Indiana. Lastly, attached is a map of the location of Notre Dame relative to the South Bend city limits.One could always take the #208 Pace bus west to Golf/Waukegan to get off, then transfer to the next northbound #210 bus to get up to downtown Glenview. Or another idea is to take the #208 bus to Golf/Harlem, and then the #423 bus northbound till you got to Glenview. You could do vice versa to get back, though I'll note the #210 and #423 buses end early in the evening on weekdays, and that it has NO weekend service. I sometimes have on weekends(when desperate) taken the #208 Pace bus along Golf Road to Harlem, then walked the 25-30 minutes north into Glenview! Or vice versa back after getting off at Glenview, providing I walked to Golf/Harlem in time before the last eastbound #208 bus.I have actually done this exact connection with Metra on the UP North Line from Evanston, IL to catch LSL 49 to Springfield, MA in June 2016. It was a pretty easy connection, though the walk from the Metra stop at Olgivie Transportation Center to Chicago Union Station is not very well marked.I would say any city with connecting rail service to Amtrak should count. My top choice college, Northwestern, is in Evanston, Illinois, a town without Amtrak service. However, there is frequent Metra and CTA rail service to downtown Chicago where they connect with a short walk to Amtrak. Glenview station is even closer, although there is no direct rail service between Evanston and Glenview, in addition to the fact that Glenview is a stop on only the Empire Builder and Hiawatha Service. Contrast this to other towns, where Amtrak may stop in the same city as the college but is not within walking distance and lacks effectiveness public transit if any exists whatsoever. One example of this is the University of Central Florida. Although it is in Orlando and relatively close to both the Orlando and Winter Park stations, there is not convenient public transit to either.
Since I know that strategy isn't for everyone, you might just be best(if it's a weekend/holiday, or if it's too late in the evening on a weekday) to request an Uber/Lyft car from Glenview, to get back to Evanston. Or vice versa, to get from Evanston up to Glenview.
University of Notre Dame is definitely within South Bend, IN. It is NOT it's own separate town from South Bend, not sure why you thought that. There are a few nearby municipalities outside of South Bend though, such as Roseland(this is a very tiny one most people forget about), Mishawaka, and Granger to name examples. And yes a lot of people do take the South Shore Line besides Amtrak to get to South Bend, since the fare is cheaper(vs. Amtrak) from Chicago.Notre Dame is in the town of Notre Dame, but it borders South Bend; I think it is close enough.Isn't South Bend college town?
Iron Mountain's a beautiful area! I'm a "troll" (south of the bridge) from Grand Rapids, but my family loves camping in the UP every other summer.Wow, a lot of responses here! Brings back old memories. While I was at the University of Cincinnati, I lived in Iron Mountain, Michigan (yep, a upper, eh), and rode the Chicago Northwestern line from Powers, Michigan ( about 30 miles east of Iron Mountain) , to Chicago. There I had to change stations to catch the "Jame Whitcomb Riley" to Cincinnati. I remember the pride in the voice of the conductor as he announced the departure and the stops. Great memory!
Probably more Dr. Seuss than "Petticoat Junction" - http://blogs.weta.org/boundarystones/2014/03/21/all-%E2%80%98hoos-down-%E2%80%98hooville-persistent-myth-grinch-charlottesvilleThe other day I noticed a fellow wearing a t-shirt in UVA colors with the Amtrak logo on the front. On the back it said The Hoo-ville Express. This is a kind of pun - UVA students call themselves Wahoos for some reason, often just Hoos. I take it also a reference to C-ville [a frequently seen shortening of Charlottesville] as well as to the Hooterville Cannonball of Petticoat Junction fame. I ran after him and asked where he got it. He said Amtrak was throwing out during a football game last year. I thought this was very clever marketing all around
The former Monon line now CSX still operates with Amtrak's Cardinal and Hoosier States from Chicago to Crawfordsville! I attended Indiana University in Bloomington when Monon operated Thoroughbred still operated until 1967. I was very pleased when Amtrak started using the Monon line in 1975 for The Floridian. Even though the Bloomington, IN stop was in the middle of night, there were lots of IU students using the train. The Cardinal/Hoosier States was also changed from the former C&O line through Marion and Richmond to the Monon line which it still uses.Up this way, University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Drexel and Temple are served by SEPTA and/or Amtrak. They are heavily used.
It would seem that a rail lines serving other colleges would see good ridership but many of the RR lines to colleges have been abandoned. Here are some examples, many of which are no more:
Penn State in State College,PA is a huge campus. Its student body numbers over 40,000, yet it has not seen branch line rail service in years. That branch line is still near the campus and it connects to the Pennsylvanian line West of Lewistown.
The defunct Monon RR served six colleges and universities along its line:
Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana.
DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana.
Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.
Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana.
St. Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Indiana.
The state or Amtrak never bothered to pick up three of these routes . Should be a ready market there but some of the lines that served these institutions were entirely abandoned. Is there a good market for passenger rail at Colleges and Universities?
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