Keystones Reserved over Easter weekend

[fairviewroad]

The Keystones (and Pennsylvanians) will be reserved between PHL and HAR during the Easter travel period, which Amtrak defines as March 24 to March 28.

Normally this is the unreserved section of the Keystones. This temporary designation mirrors what's been done during the Thanksgiving travel period for I'd say close to a decade now. I just don't recall seeing it done for Easter before. Of course, regular commuters may not notice a difference since monthly and ten-ride tickets won't require a reservation.

 

[Acela150]

Nothing new. Easter weekend as well as Christmas and some other holidays are reserved only.

 

[fairviewroad]

Nothing new. Easter weekend as well as Christmas and some other holidays are reserved only.

As I said, this has been common practice over Thanksgiving weekend. I don't recall seeing that at other holidays.

 

[Train2104]

We had standees down the aisles from Lancaster to Philly on 42 last Friday with spring break loads. I've never ridden an ordinary Keystone so I can't compare, but it seems 42/43 need to be made reservations-only on Fri/Sat/Sun and during all holiday periods...

 

[fairviewroad]

42/43 need to be made reservations-only on Fri/Sat/Sun and during all holiday periods...

IMO that would be too confusing. Part of the problem is the schedule. On weekdays, there's more than two hours until the next eastbound out of Harrisburg following the Pennsylvanian. [The schedule is more balanced westbound]

If they could add another eastbound run to fill in that mid-afternoon gap, that should alleviate some of the crowding problems.

 

[west point]

It may be that Amtrak wants to know how many persons want to travel on each train and will adjust the consists based on demand ?

Of course some return trains might not be almost full ? Note that all HAR trains show open seats. If one or more Amfleets can be redirected to the NEC all the better.

We may expect extra cars as much that are available to go to other trains.

 

[Acela150]

42/42 will not be a reserved train between PHL and HAR cause PennDot pays for the train to run. That was part of the deal. That 42/43 were to be open for all between those points.

 

[Train2104]

42/42 will not be a reserved train between PHL and HAR cause PennDot pays for the train to run. That was part of the deal. That 42/43 were to be open for all between those points.

Right, it's PennDOT's call, and not Amtrak's. Someone should complain to them...