Weekday/Weekend Runs

[CSXfoamer1997]

How come most commuter railroads like SunRail and MARC only run during the week and not also on the weekends? People may need to travel somewhere in the area during the weekend as well. Besides, there are people that work during the weekend.

 

[CCC1007]

Their primary role is a commuter railroad, so they have very little in their mind to gain on the weekends.

 

[Eric S]

They are primarily funded and operated as M-F commuter railroads, rather than as public transit services. Whether that's how they should be operated, well that's another question.

 

[Thirdrail7]

The MARC Penn line runs on the weekends.

 

[jebr]

Commuter railroads are usually set up to serve "traditional" 9 AM - 5 PM M-F workers. At least from the way that they're structured and set up (highest frequency going into the core city during AM rush hour, leaving the core city during PM rush hour, park and rides near most stations) they seem to be set up more to make it more convenient/cheaper to work downtown, offer some relief for parking downtown (requiring less parking spaces downtown) and to relieve congestion. They're not usually set up to be a true "car replacement" option or "travel for non-work purposes" option, at least by default. Many of these lines also go mainly from the core city to suburban stations (without strong traffic generators on both ends,) so the traffic needed to justify weekend rail service is often not there.

That being said, most of the larger ones or ones with high service do either already have or evolve into more of a mix between commuter and "regional" rail - look at the MARC Penn Line, many METRA routes, etc. to see how this is done. Even MSP's Northstar line has limited weekend service, and if they ever extend it to St. Cloud I would expect it to evolve rather quickly into a regional rail service.

 

[Palmetto]

Sunrail has been talking about weekend service, though.

 

[jis]

Sunrail has been talking about weekend service, though.

And TriRail already has weekend service. SunRail might get weekend service coincident with the extension to Poinciana.

Generally mature regional systems tend to have both weekend service and considerable amount of reverse commute service and service throughout the day. SunRail is relatively new. Give it a few years.

 

[MikefromCrete]

Commuter railroads usually start out as traditional "rush hour" weekday services, and if they are successful, gradually expand into weekday off hours and weekends. It all depends on the ridership.

 

[fairviewroad]

The OP's premise is false. Most commuter railroads in the United States *do* offer weekend service.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Commuter railroads are usually set up to serve "traditional" 9 AM - 5 PM M-F workers.

This is completely off topic, but every office job I've worked started at 8:00AM. Depending on your seniority you might be able to show up an hour late without any repercussions but the job itself was always considered 8-5. 8AM to 5PM equals nine hours, minus one hour for lunch equals eight hours, times five equals forty hours. Does a 9-5 job pay you to eat lunch or are you supposed to eat at your desk while working or what?

 

[jebr]

Commuter railroads are usually set up to serve "traditional" 9 AM - 5 PM M-F workers.

This is completely off topic, but every office job I've worked started at 8:00AM. Depending on your seniority you might be able to show up an hour late without any repercussions but the job itself was always considered 8-5. 8AM to 5PM equals nine hours, minus one hour for lunch equals eight hours, times five equals forty hours. Does a 9-5 job pay you to eat lunch or are you supposed to eat at your desk while working or what?

I guess that's what I've seen in popular culture as the norm. Any job that I've had with "standard shift" hours has started at 8 and ended at either 4:30 or 5 PM, depending on whether I took a half-hour or hour lunch.

I wonder if it differs based on time zone, actually. Maybe those in the Central time zone start at 8 to match up with a 9 AM start time on the east coast. No clue if that has any basis in reality or not.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Commuter railroads are usually set up to serve "traditional" 9 AM - 5 PM M-F workers.

This is completely off topic, but every office job I've worked started at 8:00AM. Depending on your seniority you might be able to show up an hour late without any repercussions but the job itself was always considered 8-5. 8AM to 5PM equals nine hours, minus one hour for lunch equals eight hours, times five equals forty hours. Does a 9-5 job pay you to eat lunch or are you supposed to eat at your desk while working or what?

I guess that's what I've seen in popular culture as the norm. Any job that I've had with "standard shift" hours has started at 8 and ended at either 4:30 or 5 PM, depending on whether I took a half-hour or hour lunch.

I wonder if it differs based on time zone, actually. Maybe those in the Central time zone start at 8 to match up with a 9 AM start time on the east coast. No clue if that has any basis in reality or not.

I think most office jobs here in my area (east coast) start at 8 am. Though I know at least one big bank has many workers who start at 9 am. I suspect they work till 6 pm to match their time with the west coast.

 

[BCL]

Altamont Commuter Express runs Mon-Fri and only during commute times/directions (morning to San Jose and afternoon/evening to Stockton). However, they do run event trains to Levi's Stadium, but only on weekends or holidays. I don't think they can handle a Monday or Thursday game since all their trainsets would be tied up for the commute.

 

[trainman74]

I did once have a job where I got half an hour of paid lunch -- but my hours weren't "9 to 5," they were 7:00 to 3:00.

In my current job, I'm expected to be at the office between the hours of 10:00 and 4:00, and work an 8-hour day. I generally end up working 7:15 to 4:00, with a 45-minute lunch break.

 

[fairviewroad]

Commuter railroads are usually set up to serve "traditional" 9 AM - 5 PM M-F workers.

This is completely off topic, but every office job I've worked started at 8:00AM. Depending on your seniority you might be able to show up an hour late without any repercussions but the job itself was always considered 8-5. 8AM to 5PM equals nine hours, minus one hour for lunch equals eight hours, times five equals forty hours. Does a 9-5 job pay you to eat lunch or are you supposed to eat at your desk while working or what?

The idea of a 9-to-5 shift is ingrained in popular culture thanks to Dolly Parton. I'm not sure if Ms. Parton took a common phrase and made it into a song, or whether people started using the phrase to reference white-collar working shifts AFTER the song came out. At any rate, it's hard to imagine Dolly Parton being an expert on the typical American working experience.

By the way, here's a video of what it would look like if you took a lot of hallucinogenic mushrooms and then watched Dolly Parton sing "9 to 5."

https://youtu.be/VTotYBNljNw

 

[Palmetto]

Has anybody noticed that rush hours in large cities begin way before 9 and go way after 5? Leads me to believe that 9-5 is not all that sacred anymore.

 

[tp49]

I think working 9AM to 5PM is a New York thing, When I was working there way back when my hours were 9-5 or 8:30-4:30. When I moved out west I first encountered 8-5, though my hours now are more like 7 or 8 to 6 or 7.

 

[Seaboard92]

Commuter rail tends to be more aligned with getting people to and from work so the need for weekend service isn't there as most office jobs are Monday to Friday. Now places like New York it's different and note all of those railroads run everyday. And are more regional in nature.

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

My line (guess which, I dare you) has the unique honor of having a nearly identical Weekday-Saturday schedule with bi-directional express trains on Saturdays. Sundays, however, are another story (and evenings).

 

[Carolina Special]

VRE's website says that their agreements with CSX and NSC don't allow service on weekends. To make up for all the freight traffic that does not run during the week. There is also a strict time window on service during the week in which trains can be run, which prohibits midday or evening service.

At least as it currently stands.

 

[battalion51]

Part of what you have to consider though, is that commuter rail is not designed to be a rapid transit system. If you compare commuter systems in the New York region to the NYC Subway system there is very little in common other than standard gauge and the flanged wheel. Outside of major cities like Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, and Chicago, there is urban sprawl that makes rapid transit impractical. Sometimes it's hard to not want commuter rail to resemble rapid transit, but even where it does exist it serves a completely different function than commuter rail.

 

[Acela150]

VRE's website says that their agreements with CSX and NSC don't allow service on weekends. To make up for all the freight traffic that does not run during the week. There is also a strict time window on service during the week in which trains can be run, which prohibits midday or evening service.

At least as it currently stands.

This is more sarcasm on this. But NSC??? Since when do railfans call NS by its Stock market listing? NS means something other than Norfolk Southern to its employees. Put a C in there and the names will get worse.

 

[Eric S]

Commuter rail is operated as an overwhelmingly M-F commuter-oriented service, but that's a choice. RER/S-Bahn systems are essentially (in many cases at least) upgraded traditional commuter rail systems. They provide near-rapid transit levels of service to a broader region, often with a metro/U-Bahn/tram network providing service to the urban core.

Viewed as just an "old-time" railroad, providing mostly commuter-oriented service may make sense; viewed as public transit, providing extensive all-day service makes sense. In the US/Canada, SEPTA in Philadelphia probably comes closest to the RER/S-Bahn model but comes up short in terms of service levels; GO Transit in Toronto is moving in this direction. It's true that many North American commuter rail systems face problems with freight traffic that don't permit extensive midday/evening/weekend service, but many systems do not.

 

[Carolina Special]

Acela150, perhaps you should consider the possibility that board participants might actually own stock in CSX and Norfolk Southern?

 

[fairviewroad]

Just to further the point, I went ahead and made a list of which commuter rail operations operate weekdays-only as the OP suggests, and which operate on weekends. There are 28 commuter rail systems in the United States according to Wikipedia. That list includes three that are operated by Amtrak, which I screened out. That leaves 25 non-Amtrak systems.

Of those 25 systems, just 6 operate regularly scheduled trains on weekdays only. Seattle, Portland, Nashville, Orlando, San Jose (ACE), and Washington (VRE). Those six systems operate a combined 8 routes.

That's a mere fraction of the routes operated by the other 19 commuter rail agencies. Of course, not all of the 19 other agencies operate all of their routes on weekends (MARC, for example). Some offer service on Saturdays but not Sundays (SLC's Front Runner, for example). But the bulk of those 19 agencies operate the vast majority of their trains seven days a week, as will the new system that's opening in Denver next month.