Main Hurricane Discussion Thread

[amamba]

Looks like most NE corridor stuff will be up and running tomorrow!

 

[jis]

Silver Service and Crescent should be running tomorrow too. It looks like anything that gets beyond Richmond later in the day will be running tomorrow. Palmetto and Carolinian not running tomorrow, well Carolinian is running Selma to Charlotte. I suspect they will run the whole route day after unless CSX for some reason has an embargo during the day between Richmond and Selma.

See Amtrak advisory.

 

[jis]

As expected, service has been restored through Trenton and NJTransit has also restored service to Trenton. There are residual delays due to continuing signal problems in the area, which was sort of, to be expected. Should clear up in a day.

Trenton nice and dry and ready for service Tuesday night!

 

[Linda T]

Well, we sat in Richmond last Friday with two tickets, one for Sunday on the Cardinal, and one for Wednesday on the Card (both train 51) we wanted to make sure we could get out. Well... it's been cancelled both days. I just called Amtrak a few minutes ago and they told me 51 from NY to CHI was cancelled today! Wow! I'm glad we got an Avis rental car and drove home just as Irene was pounding on the door of Richmond. :help: It wasn't fun driving in the wind and rain, but it sure beats having spent hotel points for three days only to find we wouldn't have gotten home today either.

Why doesn't Amtrak have the Card on their list of cancelled trains?

 

[jis]

Why doesn't Amtrak have the Card on their list of cancelled trains?

It is there in the Amtrak advisory pointed to above. Here is the pertinent section quoted from it:

Service remains suspended for these routes or segments:

• * Northeast Regional trains west of Richmond (Staples Mill) to and from Newport News, Va.
  * Empire Service trains east of Albany/Rensselaer, to and from Buffalo/Niagara Falls
  * Lake Shore Limited (Trains 48/448 & 49/449), Chicago-New York/Boston
  * Cardinal (Trains 50 & 51), east of Indianapolis, to and from Washington/New York
  * Maple Leaf (Trains 63 & 64), east of Niagara Falls, to and from Albany/New York
  * Carolinian (Trains 79 & 80) between New York and Selma-Smithfield, N.C.
  * Palmetto (Trains 89 & 90), New York-Savannah
  * Ethan Allen Express (Trains 290 & 291), New York-Rutland, Vt

 

[Train2104]

SEPTA is bustituting Levittown-Trenton starting tomorrow... wonder what's impeding them.

 

[jis]

Lots more Amtrak trains restored tomorrow. See Amtrak Advisory.

 

[eagle628]

And the return of Vermonter was delayed a bit...NECR estimates that it'll take six weeks, at the very least, to repair the track north of White River Junction. Two bridges damaged, as well as several sections of a thousand feet or more of track with no roadbed left. Vermonter service was supposed to resume on September 18, it's now been suspended indefinitely. Presumably the bustitution will be extended. (source was a Trains Magazine article behind a paywall)

 

[The Davy Crockett]

And the return of Vermonter was delayed a bit...NECR estimates that it'll take six weeks, at the very least, to repair the track north of White River Junction. Two bridges damaged, as well as several sections of a thousand feet or more of track with no roadbed left. Vermonter service was supposed to resume on September 18, it's now been suspended indefinitely. Presumably the bustitution will be extended. (source was a Trains Magazine article behind a paywall)

With quite probably the worst flooding on record in many locations, it is unfortunately, not a surprise. (Do a Google video search on Vermont flooding, to get an idea) It is likely that much of the work done this summer was swept away in no time. I wonder how this will impact the Ethan Allen, both in the short term -as in service restoration - and in the long term - the extension to Burlington.

 

[Acela150]

Just wondering how many pages is this going be? :giggle: Are we going for the Record? :giggle: :lol:

Anyway, is there a timetable that CSX has for the RVR NPN section?

 

[Acela150]

SEPTA is bustituting Levittown-Trenton starting tomorrow... wonder what's impeding them.

Wimps.. :lol:

My guess is that they are waiting for some type of interlocking to be fixed.. Just a guess.

 

[eagle628]

And the return of Vermonter was delayed a bit...NECR estimates that it'll take six weeks, at the very least, to repair the track north of White River Junction. Two bridges damaged, as well as several sections of a thousand feet or more of track with no roadbed left. Vermonter service was supposed to resume on September 18, it's now been suspended indefinitely. Presumably the bustitution will be extended. (source was a Trains Magazine article behind a paywall)

With quite probably the worst flooding on record in many locations, it is unfortunately, not a surprise. (Do a Google video search on Vermont flooding, to get an idea)

Yes, I happen to know that first-hand, I don't need videos.

I wonder how this will impact the Ethan Allen, both in the short term -as in service restoration - and in the long term - the extension to Burlington.

Freight service was supposed to resume Whitehall-Rutland last night, so I imagine the Ethan Allen should resume service along the entire route fairly soon. As for Burlington, the effects of this storm will have been long since cleaned up by the time that's got a decent shot at finally starting.

 

[jis]

Here is a slideshow of NJTransit damage pictures. Has several pictures of Trenton among others.

 

[jis]

Amtrak service advisory for Sept 1..... still no service other than the LSL between ALB and BUF

Service adjustments for Thursday Sept 01

NORTHEAST CORRIDOR:

Normal NEC service restored, all Keystones to operate.

Acela Express 2103(1) and 2126(1) will not stop at Trenton.

Regionals 67(30), 66(1), 95(1), 94(1) cancelled between Washington and Newport News.

LONG DISTANCE:

89(1) and 90(1) cancelled. 89(2) and 90(2) expected to operate.

EMPIRE SERVICE:

232, 280, 284, 281, 283, 241(1) cancelled.

64(1), 63(1) cancelled Niagara Falls-New York.

290(1) and 291(1) will not operate north of Rensselaer, bustitution provided to/from the north.

49/449(1) and 48/448(1) will operate with estimated 3-hour delays between Syracuse and Amsterdam.

NOTE: 448(31) operates Rensselaer-Boston.

 

[jis]

Some news about the Port Jervis Line from trainorders:

Unbelievable the amount of rumors flying around here. What will happen is: The line will be rebuilt and it will NOT take months to do it either! I am a conductor for NJT and we already officially know that starting Monday or possibly sooner there SHOULD be trains running from Pt. Jervis to Harriman, with a bus bridge to Ramsey rt. 17 station. This is not set in stone but the most likely scenario until the line is completely fixed in approx 4-6 weeks. No one is abandoning anything!!

 

[The Davy Crockett]

And the return of Vermonter was delayed a bit...NECR estimates that it'll take six weeks, at the very least, to repair the track north of White River Junction. Two bridges damaged, as well as several sections of a thousand feet or more of track with no roadbed left. Vermonter service was supposed to resume on September 18, it's now been suspended indefinitely. Presumably the bustitution will be extended. (source was a Trains Magazine article behind a paywall)

With quite probably the worst flooding on record in many locations, it is unfortunately, not a surprise. (Do a Google video search on Vermont flooding, to get an idea)

Yes, I happen to know that first-hand, I don't need videos.

Most folks don't. I'm not sure that having a front row seat is a good thing for what has happened. I use to live in Wilmington, VT and it fills me with great sadness to see the damage.

 

I wonder how this will impact the Ethan Allen, both in the short term -as in service restoration - and in the long term - the extension to Burlington.

Freight service was supposed to resume Whitehall-Rutland last night, so I imagine the Ethan Allen should resume service along the entire route fairly soon. As for Burlington, the effects of this storm will have been long since cleaned up by the time that's got a decent shot at finally starting.

Obviously the physical damage to the tracks will be cleaned up soon. I was probably not clear, but I was referring to the fiscal damage to the state, and if there will be state money available to extend the Ethen Allen due to the enormous costs the state has and will incur due to the damage.

 

[jis]

SEPTA is bustituting Levittown-Trenton starting tomorrow... wonder what's impeding them.

What is going on is that Trenton is currently operating with several spiked switches, i.e. they are spiked in one direction, pending replacement of switch machines. Most of these at the west end of Fair interlocking I believe. This forces certain ops to be impossible, among which is getting the SEPTA trains into the side platform. It will get fixed in due time as recovery completes over the next few days.

Meanwhile, apparently NJT is now getting complaints from the Trenton shuffle customers as to why the bustitution of SEPTA is not being announced in New York Penn Station! This suggests that there are really quite a lot of Trenton Shuffle customers that exist. Of course NJT ought to know better than anyone else since they sell most of those shuffle tickets. They might actually start announcing the state of affairs more frequently at Penn Station it seems.

But it is an interesting illustration of traffic patterns that exist that are not fully acknowledged in the primary goals under which outfits like NJT operate.

 

[jis]

MTA is invoking emergency powers to rapidly reconstruct the Port Jervis Line. See:

http://www.mta.info/news/stories/?story=363

 

[eagle628]

Obviously the physical damage to the tracks will be cleaned up soon. I was probably not clear, but I was referring to the fiscal damage to the state, and if there will be state money available to extend the Ethen Allen due to the enormous costs the state has and will incur due to the damage.

The plan has, as far as I know, always been to use federal money for the extension, so I wouldn't think the damage would have a significant impact.

On a more immediate note, it seems the Ethan Allen resumed today, according to this. Although the article does seem to think Rutland is in Connecticutt, not sure about that.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

Obviously the physical damage to the tracks will be cleaned up soon. I was probably not clear, but I was referring to the fiscal damage to the state, and if there will be state money available to extend the Ethen Allen due to the enormous costs the state has and will incur due to the damage.

The plan has, as far as I know, always been to use federal money for the extension, so I wouldn't think the damage would have a significant impact.

On a more immediate note, it seems the Ethan Allen resumed today, according to this. Although the article does seem to think Rutland is in Connecticutt, not sure about that.

I'm not positive about this, but I think the Federal money would be used to take the tracks up to pax standards. The state will need to contribute a very significant percentage of the $ for the day to day operations, just as they do now for both the Vermonter and the existing Ethan Allen service.

 

[CHamilton]

Posted on Facebook:

UPDATE: ADDITIONAL AMTRAK SERVICE RESTORED

by Amtrak on Thursday, September 1, 2011 at 2:07pmMaple Leaf (New York –Toronto) and Empire Service (New York - Albany/Rensselaer) to operate full schedules on Friday; Full Empire Service (New York - Buffalo/Niagara Falls) to operate on Sunday

Amtrak will operate full schedules for the Maple Leaf (New York to and from Toronto) and Empire Service (New York to and from Albany/Rensselaer) starting Friday, Sept. 2. Additional Empire Service will operate (New York to and from Niagara Falls) on Saturday, Sept. 3, with full Empire Service (New York to and from Buffalo/Niagara Falls) starting Sunday, Sept. 4. Please note, Amtrak will operate a modified Sunday schedule due to the Labor Day holiday.

With the operation of these two services, Amtrak has restored most service to much of the East Coast affected by Hurricane Irene.

The only service segment remains suspended is Northeast Regional trains east of Richmond (Staples Mill) to and from Newport News, Va. This service is anticipated to return to full operation on Saturday, Sept. 3.

Passengers who have paid for travel on canceled trains can contact Amtrak to receive refunds without fee or penalty or can rebook for future travel. If tickets have not yet printed, the refund/rebook can be done on Amtrak.com or the free Amtrak iPhone “app.”

Amtrak regrets any inconvenience. This information is correct as of the above time and date. Information is subject to change as conditions warrant. Passengers are encouraged to call 800-USA-RAIL or visit Amtrak.com for schedule information and train status updates.

 

[afigg]

The plan has, as far as I know, always been to use federal money for the extension, so I wouldn't think the damage would have a significant impact.

On a more immediate note, it seems the Ethan Allen resumed today, according to this. Although the article does seem to think Rutland is in Connecticutt, not sure about that.

I'm not positive about this, but I think the Federal money would be used to take the tracks up to pax standards. The state will need to contribute a very significant percentage of the $ for the day to day operations, just as they do now for both the Vermonter and the existing Ethan Allen service.

The HSIPR fiscal year grants will likely continue to require 20% state matching funds. So VT or the railroad would have to put up some state money, unless the Jefford's earmark funding somehow qualifies as matching funds, if there are future rounds of HSIPR grants. It has been posted the VT is planning to apply for a FY2011 TIGER grant for much of the Rutland to Burlington extension costs as the track upgrades will also benefit freight rail, but I don't know what the rules are for state/other source matching funds are for the FY11 TIGER grants.

Way too early to see how the damage from Irene will affect Vermont finances & economy for transportation projects. VT is eligible for various federal emergency funds and there may even be flood insurance for VSR.

There may have been some small luck in that this storm hit before the Vermonter route upgrades were completed. I figure the track construction equipment and crew is on the scene and available. The Vermonter project also should have a 10% to 20% reserve in the budget as that is standard practice. If track upgrade work completed so far has been on or under budget, well they now have a good reason to use up the reserve.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

On a more immediate note, it seems the Ethan Allen resumed today, according to this. Although the article does seem to think Rutland is in Connecticutt, not sure about that.

Rutland got washed OVER the mountains and all the way down into Connecticut? DANG! :lol: :lol:

 

[gatelouse]

Considering how much flooding occurred at TRE, it's amazing that service was restored so quickly and that Amtrak is running with minimal delays. A colleague rode WAS-BOS on the NE Regional today and arrived on time. Many of Wednesday's Regional trains didn't fare too badly on timekeeping either, all things considered. A great recovery in my book.

 

[miley]

are trains working leaving from south carolina this week?