A theory of amtrak's lateness

Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Status
Not open for further replies.

RailFanNebraska

Service Attendant
Joined
Jan 24, 2006
Messages
120
perhaps in cities like chicago that might have signifact numbers of NEC passengers comeing on to the empire builder, CZ, and such, they are holding the trains back so they can board them andnot have to pay the hotel cost of putting them up for the night??
 
Well I'll take a shot at this being I think I understand your question.

First off the NEC doesn't have anything to do with city of CHI itself. The NEC is simply the route located in the Northeast US in which Amtrak owns and dispatches the majority of (with a few exceptions). However, to answer your question, it is a fact many times trains are held for a few minutes to accomodate late arriving "connecting" passengers. I have seen it in many occasions in many places. It doesn't happen very much in places like NYP due to nature of rail traffic flow, but one time on train #97 we were held at NYP to allow some connecting passengers to arrive and board the train. We were able to make the most of the time by the time we made WAS. I have experienced many times being held in WAS to wait for the train #30 to get there to make connections with #91 when it was on the old schedule. I have seen the former "Sunset Limited" held in ORL for our arrival on train #98 for multitudes of passengers. I have been held in JAX on the old "Palmetto" to wait for a insane late "Sunset" to allow passengers to connect to it who were supposed to catch #92 earlier that evening, etc.

I see the point you are making, and actually in Amtrak's defense, it makes better sense to accomodate late passengers (when it is Amtrak's or other operational reason/fault) the best we can on another train if it is available. Amtrak's goal is to get you there, maybe not exactly when they say they will, but none-the-less..... getcha there! LOL... Anyway, that is certainly one of the many reasons on time or slightly late trains become later trains. I will say this, however, just about all of the passengers off a late arriving connection are usually VERY HAPPY we waited for them. Unless it is only one or two people making connections, it is actually the right thing to do!

A few years back we had to wait outside RGH for the arrival of a rather late "Piedmont" (which is never really late at all) because there were several passengers making connections to #91 there. We were on time, but in the end by the time we left RGH we were over an hour late. But CSX didn't let us down, and we were back on time by the time we left ORL the next day, and made it to MIA on time (that doesn't happen much anymore)! OBS...
 
Being in the NE (Long Island, to be exact), I tend to think of the NEC as the combination of Regional, Acela, and Metroliner trains that travel between Washington, NYP, and Boston. The LD trains running on those tracks are just 'passing through'. I realize that the NEC is really defined by the track, not the particular trainsets, but so be it.

With regards to holding trains for connecting LDs, I can't imagine that any Regional, Acela, or Metroliners are ever (or should ever) be held for connecting trains. There is always another train an hour later! I can see holding the LD trains, but that really has nothing to do with NEC operations. It is no different than holding an LD train in Chicago, or Florida, or California to make a connection from a late arriving LD train.

In other words, the heart of the NEC trains should have absolutely no bearing on the lateness of LD trains.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top