Are NEC regional trains about to be downgraded?

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bratkinson

Conductor
Joined
Aug 7, 2004
Messages
1,079
Location
QB 101
I'm nearing the end of a one day joyride on the NEC aboard 2 regional trains in business class, 141 this morning and 148 right now.

What I saw this morning and repeated on a different trainset for 148 is the removal of seemingly all indications of quiet car and business class aboard the train. I didn't see any quiet car signs on the doors or hanging down from the ceiling. Ditto with business class. Apparently, there must be some order somewhere to remove the signs. Does anyone have any insider information as to why? For what it's worth, about a month ago on 141 and 56, BC had full signage.

On the positive side of things, NYP-WAS both ways was 100% full in BC. I'm stunned. I haven't seen that since the beginning of the '2 weeks to flatten the curve' Covid lockdowns in March 2020.
 
I ironically popped on 148 from Wilmington back to Philly yesterday and noticed the same issue. However it’s most likely an issue of a car coming from the shop or shifted in the consist and the signs weren’t hung.
 
I ironically popped on 148 from Wilmington back to Philly yesterday and noticed the same issue. However it’s most likely an issue of a car coming from the shop or shifted in the consist and the signs weren’t hung.
Indeed. Besides Business Class cars are physically different type of cars with a different number series and different type of seats.
 
171 has definitely downgraded in a different way. In the last month it has been on time exactly once, often late 90 minutes or more. Last Friday 77 min late for me to CVS. If departure from Washington is more than 10 minutes late misery ensues as the track is occupied by VRE commuter and freights, slow and go all the way. South of DC they're running it with 1 conductor so only one door opens at each stop. Of course same for 176 next morning. The conductor scans no tickets, aamof he never leaves the cafe car. VA has kicked in a lot of $$$ to Amtrak and deserves better than this.
 
I ride south of NYP several times a week and have not seen the QC or BC without signs. But I can say that trains have been 80%-100% capacity for months now, especially Fridays and Sundays. I'm assuming the fuller BC has something to do with bid-up.
 
Having signs on the door to the business class car doesn't really make much difference. Over the years riding in business class, it's pretty common for the conductors to chase out people with coach tickets, even though there's a big sign on the door that says "business class." And it's also pretty common for there to be one or two yakkers in the Quiet car, talking right under a sign that says "Quiet car." Perhaps there's no point in Amtrak putting up signs if passengers don't bother to read them.
 
171 has definitely downgraded in a different way. In the last month it has been on time exactly once, often late 90 minutes or more. Last Friday 77 min late for me to CVS. If departure from Washington is more than 10 minutes late misery ensues as the track is occupied by VRE commuter and freights, slow and go all the way. South of DC they're running it with 1 conductor so only one door opens at each stop. Of course same for 176 next morning. The conductor scans no tickets, aamof he never leaves the cafe car. VA has kicked in a lot of $$$ to Amtrak and deserves better than this.

Several AC’s are in training right now for Zone 5 DC. Which hopefully will alleviate that issue. However it’s been common across the system over the past year.
 
Perhaps there's no point in Amtrak putting up signs if passengers don't bother to read them.
It's not like the BC car is substantially different. The seats are slightly different colors, have slightly more legroom, and there are curtains. That's it. Won't see the signs at the end of the coach in the end door window if it's open when entering.
 
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