Is the Crescent reliable?

[IrishDude]

Hello,

I'm going to be visiting Charlottesville next month and taking the 20 Crescent (departing Charlottesville at 7.20am) to New York after I'm done. The Charlottesville article on Wikitravel refers to the trains that serve the station as being 'notoriously late'; is this true? Am I likely to spend a few hours sitting on the platform?

Also, a couple of general questions about Amtrak since I've never used it: do the trains ever leave stations ahead of their scheduled times? Will I have enough time to get my (already reserved) ticket from the station master and board the train if I arrive at the Charlottesville station at 7.10am?

Thanks

 

[Guest]

Hello,
I'm going to be visiting Charlottesville next month and taking the 20 Crescent (departing Charlottesville at 7.20am) to New York after I'm done. The Charlottesville article on Wikitravel refers to the trains that serve the station as being 'notoriously late'; is this true? Am I likely to spend a few hours sitting on the platform?

Also, a couple of general questions about Amtrak since I've never used it: do the trains ever leave stations ahead of their scheduled times? Will I have enough time to get my (already reserved) ticket from the station master and board the train if I arrive at the Charlottesville station at 7.10am?

Thanks

The Crescent is one of the more reliable trains in the system, however I would monitor the situation through the Amtrak website - using the Train Status program.

I would suggest arriving well in advance of your scheduled departure time - especially if you have bags to check and want to avoid the rush. Allow at least 30 minutes ahead of time with no bags and 45 minutes with bags. Ten minues ahead of the scheduled departure will not cut it. I don't know if there are two agents in the Charlottesville station, but if there is only one, he/she will be at trainside with the baggage float to off-load and then load the baggage car.

Have a great trip.

 

[AlanB]

Well I probably wouldn't use the word notorious, but the Crescent isn't always on time. It however is one of the better trains for on time performance, and when it is late, it usually isn't more than 2 or 3 hours late. Unlike some Amtrak trains that are routinely 5 or 6 hours late, or worse. Since Amtrak doesn't own the tracks that they run on, they are at the mercy of their hosts and don't always get priority.

Next, as a general rule, trains never leave the station before their scheduled departure times. Now, that said first know that the conductors watch might be a minute or two fast by comparison to your watch, so don't ever cut things that close. Next, on the Crescent, once it is north of DC since it does not pick up any passengers, it only stops to discharge passengers, it could leave ahead of the scheduled time. But that only happens northbound between DC and NY.

Finally, 10 minutes would be cutting it way too close IMHO, if the train is on time. If there is any kind of a line, you might not get your ticket in time. I would suggest arriving at least 20 to 30 minutes before the scheduled departure time. At some stations, not sure about Charlottesville, the ticket agent is also the baggage agent. If that is the case, then he/she has to close the ticket window when the train arrives, in order to take the baggage out to the train.

Personally what I would suggest is to call Amtrak at the toll free number about 6:00 or so, and find out the train's status. If the train is within one hour of being on time, then go to the station prepared for it to be on time. If it is more than one hour late, then you can delay your departure to the station for any amount of time over that one hour. But then I would also urge you to keep calling, just to make sure that it hasn't made up any extra time.

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

Hello,
I'm going to be visiting Charlottesville next month and taking the 20 Crescent (departing Charlottesville at 7.20am) to New York after I'm done. The Charlottesville article on Wikitravel refers to the trains that serve the station as being 'notoriously late'; is this true? Am I likely to spend a few hours sitting on the platform?

Also, a couple of general questions about Amtrak since I've never used it: do the trains ever leave stations ahead of their scheduled times? Will I have enough time to get my (already reserved) ticket from the station master and board the train if I arrive at the Charlottesville station at 7.10am?

Thanks

Here are the last few days on The Crescent leaving Charlottesville northbound,

6/18 4 minutes late

6/17 50 min late

6/16 1 hr. 6 min late

6/15 3 min late

6/14 one hour late

6/13 13 min late

Whether that qualifies as notoriusly late is a personal judgement call. There are some Amtrak trains which, sadly, do much worse due to highly intensive frieght traffic.I have observed the Crescent for many years and can truthfully say it goes in cycles. There are times whcn it would be all on time maybe 90 percent...other times worse than the above.

As to leaving stations early, no they can't do that if there are people boarding at that station. But, using the Crescent for an example, once it gets to Alexandria all stops north of there are discharge only, so for those it CAN and often does leave early. It, and the trains from Florida, do not handle local traffic between intermediate cities between WAS and NYC (and also on to Boston) . The Crescent travels from New Orleans to NYC, so it has been on the rails about 24 hours already once you see it arrive in Charlottesville.

There are many, many other trains all day long which do just that...no need to bog down the long distance trains with purely local traffic north of Alexandria. When the Crescent and the Florida trains operate southbound those stops between NYC and Alexandria are to receive only. But that, of course, does not enable it to leave early, just the opposite.

Strange for the lateness noted above, if the train is on time making its way north and gets to Alexandria on time, it has been known to be over an hour EARLY into the Big Apple. This is accomplsihed because it is leaving nobody behind. But the northeast corrider, as that is called, is kind of a special area. Most stops around the country a train or bus or anything else makes does not dare leave early due to possibly leaving passengners behind.

As to how much time to purchse your ticket I am not personally familiar with the layout, etc. Sounds kind of risky. I would not do that..

 

[XNWA]

Hello,
I'm going to be visiting Charlottesville next month and taking the 20 Crescent (departing Charlottesville at 7.20am) to New York after I'm done. The Charlottesville article on Wikitravel refers to the trains that serve the station as being 'notoriously late'; is this true? Am I likely to spend a few hours sitting on the platform?

Also, a couple of general questions about Amtrak since I've never used it: do the trains ever leave stations ahead of their scheduled times? Will I have enough time to get my (already reserved) ticket from the station master and board the train if I arrive at the Charlottesville station at 7.10am?

Thanks

The Cresent is normaly 45 min to 1 hours late on its schedule.

 

[had8ley]

Hello,

I'm going to be visiting Charlottesville next month and taking the 20 Crescent (departing Charlottesville at 7.20am) to New York after I'm done. The Charlottesville article on Wikitravel refers to the trains that serve the station as being 'notoriously late'; is this true? Am I likely to spend a few hours sitting on the platform?

Also, a couple of general questions about Amtrak since I've never used it: do the trains ever leave stations ahead of their scheduled times? Will I have enough time to get my (already reserved) ticket from the station master and board the train if I arrive at the Charlottesville station at 7.10am?

Thanks

The Crescent is one of the more reliable trains in the system, however I would monitor the situation through the Amtrak website - using the Train Status program.

I would suggest arriving well in advance of your scheduled departure time - especially if you have bags to check and want to avoid the rush. Allow at least 30 minutes ahead of time with no bags and 45 minutes with bags. Ten minues ahead of the scheduled departure will not cut it. I don't know if there are two agents in the Charlottesville station, but if there is only one, he/she will be at trainside with the baggage float to off-load and then load the baggage car.

Have a great trip.

If memory serves me right Charlottsville station is elevated. My point being the agent, if he/she is by him/herself, probably has to come down an elevator with the baggage buggy. He/she might close the ticket window a little bit early to insure that he/she is at trackside for the Crescent's arrival.It is also a crew change point. Remember one thing; there's only one Crescent a day and if you miss it there's no back up. Good luck and have a good trip. And the notorious late label might have come from the Cardinal that passes through three times a week. Anybody have the on time performance stats for that train?

 

[Rafi]

You know, to be perfectly frank, if you have the flexibility I'd just pick your ticket up ahead of time to make things easier the morning of your departure. You can get the ticket from any staffed Amtrak station or ticket counter in the country, including Quik-Trak machines in many major stations.

-Rafi

 

[Rafi]

If memory serves me right Charlottsville station is elevated. My point being the agent, if he/she is by him/herself, probably has to come down an elevator with the baggage buggy. He/she might close the ticket window a little bit early to insure that he/she is at trackside for the Crescent's arrival.It is also a crew change point. Remember one thing; there's only one Crescent a day and if you miss it there's no back up. Good luck and have a good trip. And the notorious late label might have come from the Cardinal that passes through three times a week. Anybody have the on time performance stats for that train?

Actually, both of Charlottesville's stations are at track level (Union Station is no longer being used, however). The currently active station (formerly of the Southern RR) is nestled at the interchange of the North-South Norfolk Southern line (which the Crescent uses) and the East-West Buckingham Branch (formerly CSX, B&O I think?) line, which the Cardinal uses. No elevators are involved, but the Norfolk-Southern (Crescent) tracks are a bit farther removed from the station building than the Cardinal's tracks, so the agent will typically drive out to meet the baggage car a little earlier than you might expect.

As for the station you might be recalling, I suspect it's Lynchburg, the next stop down the line, which is a two-floor station with the ticket offices at street level up top, and the old baggage rooms and storefronts down below at trackside (now used for storage and baggage elevator duties). Wonderful old station only being used to about 10% of its potential—wish it had more service than just the Crescent.

-Rafi

 

[SouthernServesTheSouth]

The Lynchburg station refered to by Rafi has been remodeled. The Amtrak station is now on the track level. Grayhound bus lines has its ticket office on the Kemper Street level.

There are also professional offices located in the restored station. One is an attorney group, handy if you are displeased with your Amtrak experience.

The Charlottesville station is downtown and next to the UVA campus. A flight of stairs from the station parking lot to the street makes for an enjoyable walk along the streets.

 

[Rafi]

The Lynchburg station refered to by Rafi has been remodeled. The Amtrak station is now on the track level. Grayhound bus lines has its ticket office on the Kemper Street level.
There are also professional offices located in the restored station. One is an attorney group, handy if you are displeased with your Amtrak experience.

Ah-Hah... I stand corrected. I admittedly have not taken the train out of LYH since my college days when I used to date a girl at Sweet Briar, and that was years before the station was remodeled for the then-promising prospect of the TransDominion Express dovetailing into the rehab. Since then I've only seen LYH from the Crescent on my way south or north. How is the new waiting room?

The Charlottesville station is downtown and next to the UVA campus. A flight of stairs from the station parking lot to the street makes for an enjoyable walk along the streets.

I wholeheartedly concur. I've always encouraged folks to spend a day in CVS when changing from the Cardinal to Crescent or vice versa, rather than trekking all of the way up to Washington to make the train change.

-Rafi

 

[IrishDude]

Thanks for all of the advice, guys.

Rafi, I'm actually staying about 10 minutes walk from the station so I'll head down at some point to pick up the ticket. I assume they can issue it at any time ahead of departure?

One more question - I'm going to be carrying a single medium sized carry-all bag. Is there sufficient space in the coach class to store it or would I be better off checking the bag?

 

[AlanB]

I assume they can issue it at any time ahead of departure?

They can print out your ticket anytime between 6:00 AM and 9:30 PM 7 days a week. So anytime/anyday you like, you can head down to pickup your ticket.

One more question - I'm going to be carrying a single medium sized carry-all bag. Is there sufficient space in the coach class to store it or would I be better off checking the bag?

There should be more than enough room for one bag, either in the overhead rack or at the end of the car.

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

You may have been checking the n.b. Crescent leaving Charlottesville yourself recenty.

But in case not:

6/19 1 hr. 46 min late

6/20 27 minutes late

6/21 3 min. late

6/22 2 hr. 10 min late.