NEC overnight and late evening service

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AmtrakMaineiac said:
Maybe MBTA should run an express in 66's slot stopping only at RTE and BBY to handle this commuter traffic
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So, there's an SLE train that leaves NHV at 0500. If Amtrak has decided not to run 66/67, would it be practical to arrange to run an MBTA set down to NHV in the evening and then have it come back as that train? I don't know about crew positioning or equipment positioning, but this seems viable to me on a layman's glance...
 
Anderson said:
So, there's an SLE train that leaves NHV at 0500. If Amtrak has decided not to run 66/67, would it be practical to arrange to run an MBTA set down to NHV in the evening and then have it come back as that train? I don't know about crew positioning or equipment positioning, but this seems viable to me on a layman's glance...
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No. Not practical at all.
 
Anderson said:
So, there's an SLE train that leaves NHV at 0500. If Amtrak has decided not to run 66/67, would it be practical to arrange to run an MBTA set down to NHV in the evening and then have it come back as that train? I don't know about crew positioning or equipment positioning, but this seems viable to me on a layman's glance...
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Lack of available Amtrak equipment is not the reason they are not running it. They could run cafe car and 2 coaches to New Haven and back, but determined is not worth their while. They could have a transfer set up with MN trains to GCT, but they have not.
 
In the late March schedule changes, they seem to have got rid of train 187 and cut 177 back to Philly, so there's no longer any through train service south of NYC at 9 or 10 pm (except on Sundays).

They've also added more trains (3 more southbound for the whole day ), but killed anything after 8ish.

Is this due to construction? Amtrak doesn't seem to be allergic to late-night trains in general, since there's still a ~9 and ~10pm out of DC headed north. Or is this due to "security" issues -- i.e. them not wanting to pay security guards to keep Union Station DC open after hours.
 
demonizedwater said:
In the late March schedule changes, they seem to have got rid of train 187 and cut 177 back to Philly, so there's no longer any through train service south of NYC at 9 or 10 pm (except on Sundays).

They've also added more trains (3 more southbound for the whole day ), but killed anything after 8ish.

Is this due to construction? Amtrak doesn't seem to be allergic to late-night trains in general, since there's still a ~9 and ~10pm out of DC headed north. Or is this due to "security" issues -- i.e. them not wanting to pay security guards to keep Union Station DC open after hours.
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This is so far the plan. Having worked both 187 and 177 they are very light past Philly. They're also looking to make some service adjustments to the weekend service.
 
Acela150 said:
This is so far the plan. Having worked both 187 and 177 they are very light past Philly. They're also looking to make some service adjustments to the weekend service.
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I'm not convinced that the plan is not to have any Regional service going south of Philly after 7:40pm. This will be a PITA for anyone who has to go south of Philly and has a working hour job in NYC. also, look at the new schedule of 65/67. 3 hour hold in Philly. is there also something going on south of Philly like Baltimore tunnel construction?
 
demonizedwater said:
I'm not convinced that the plan is not to have any Regional service going south of Philly after 7:40pm. This will be a PITA for anyone who has to go south of Philly and has a working hour job in NYC. also, look at the new schedule of 65/67. 3 hour hold in Philly. is there also something going on south of Philly like Baltimore tunnel construction?
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Keep in mind that you'll have 175 and 2173 to DC. Both arrive in DC about 11pm. Their are a lot of schedule changes planned for March.
 
Running non-full trains at off hours is a good thing. "An empty freeway is a success, an empty train/tram/bus/etc. is a failure." Well, if a tram's consistently empty, it's a problem, but you get the idea. People want to go places. One of the things I've noticed recently about six- and eight-lane freeways is how lightly travelled they can be outside of peak times. In that way, trains win for flexibility and narrow corridors.

I ride the NER trains from Richmond or NPN/NFK north a few times a year and always see open seats in VA, but it's recorded as profitable. Fills up as it goes along, especially on the NEC. The one full thing I rode was the Amtrak bus between NPN and NFK/VAB. Returning from WAS/BAL/PHL after dinner is not really possible, unless you're an early-bird specialist, but could get better after the DC/VA Long Bridge is completed.
 
JamesWhitcombRiley said:
Running non-full trains at off hours is a good thing. "An empty freeway is a success, an empty train/tram/bus/etc. is a failure." Well, if a tram's consistently empty, it's a problem, but you get the idea. People want to go places. One of the things I've noticed recently about six- and eight-lane freeways is how lightly travelled they can be outside of peak times. In that way, trains win for flexibility and narrow corridors.

I ride the NER trains from Richmond or NPN/NFK north a few times a year and always see open seats in VA, but it's recorded as profitable. Fills up as it goes along, especially on the NEC. The one full thing I rode was the Amtrak bus between NPN and NFK/VAB. Returning from WAS/BAL/PHL after dinner is not really possible, unless you're an early-bird specialist, but could get better after
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For what it's worth, this looks to be related to some sort of work (Douglass Tunnel???) between Philly and DC rather than saving a few nickels and other sources aren't assuming it's permanent. Looks like nothing gets through there going south at night (hence 67 sitting for 3 hr in Philly going southbound). Still sad to see train service from NYC being materially worse than DC, which will have service until 10pm with new schedule.
 
demonizedwater said:
Why not hold 67 in Baltimore then?
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67's schedule from before this (0610 at BAL, 0700 at WAS) was in the middle of MARC service. There's no real reason to cater to that particular traffic bundle given the alternatives, and folks can connect off of MARC to catch 67.

On the other hand, doing this does potentially pick up some late night NYP-PHL traffic - it gets you out of NYC after a Broadway show, for example (any 7:30/8:00 PM showings are going to be tough to make the 10:05 PM Regional, and even some 7:00 PM shows might be a stretch depending on exact release, theater location, etc.). Connections from the Maple Leaf/Adirondack become less of a hassle (it becomes more practical to be able to get out of NYC if continuing onward). Also, on the BOS-NYP side, it gets you into NYP by midnight.

[Frankly, even if Amtrak chose to move 67 back to the old timetable, there's probably a decent case to run a train in this slot regardless.]
 

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