They’re trying to do this in a realistic phased approach to try to get some service going and then build up from there. It’s the most sensible way to go given the circumstances. I’ll take 3 a day over 1 a day.
Yes in my times at Springfield station a lot of people who use the bus to and from Boston regularly also use the Lake Shore on occasion.
His father probably could have stoped it, however as a former PPB insider. From when I was hired in about 2007 till I was laid off the second and final time. The company was run aground. Post that termination in the region Peter Pan has been farther facing stiffer competition inroads. It started when the Alliance with Greyhound broke down and expanded since with Megabus, the Valley Flyer and now Flix bus operating In Peter Pan’s proverbial backyard.
exactly. It is the perfect distance and range for a commuter. The problem is the Lake Shore limited is so Limited. One East one west. It’s optimized for an overnight train from Boston or NYC to Chicago. The Pittsfield to Boston parts are an afterthought.
The bus people can never figure that out. In fact, there are many people that don’t travel because they don’t have a car, can’t drive, or don’t want the hassle. There was a postwar railroad executive who said the railroads weren’t worried about airline or highway competition because there would be so much more travel post war. I think his prediction was 70 years early. Between more people crushed by rising rents and the increased price of cars, more people will be priced out of car ownership. Young people want experiences more than things. The population of the country is growing and the density of many parts of the US is as great as Europe. This is a long way of saying that there is traffic for all, and in the future, the railroad station will be a regional hub that busses will feed into.
To be clear for future readers, the "abysmal" note was about the Berkshire Flyer, the seasonal weekend train between NYP and Pittsfield.
Denver Union Station already has that physically set up, but through interline ticketing and information is spotty and some bus operators are afraid to set up connections due to wild schedule adherence problems (aka Precision Scheduling). That likely would be the same problem east of Albany on the eastbound LSL.
Isn't the plan at this point just for two additional Boston - Springfield trains, rather than Boston - Albany?
Yes. If and when we do get to adding trains to Albany, connecting to and from the Adirondack would mean a pretty early westbound departure from Boston, probably before 7 a.m., and an eastbound arrival close to midnight.
Boston to Detroit in 14:15 back then.
Compare to now...Peter Pan's original core was its Amherst-Springfield-Boston route. It expanded from Springfield to Hartford and New York City, when it took over the former Trailways of New England (Continental Trailways) routes. And then expanded on to Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington.
When I worked for PPB back 10 years ago. Worcester was the standard route. With a few Non stops. Even then though you have the Mass pike to contend with.
Yeah, certainly between Springfield and Boston, only two round-trips plus the Lake Shore seems like a rather poor level of corridor service -- especially given the Lake Shore's reliability issues going east. Having one or two more frequencies at the outset would allow the service to show its potential more rapidly.
