jccollins
Conductor
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2002
- Messages
- 1,266
According to today's NARP Hotline and Amtrak's Reservations Website, Amtrak Thruway service from Needles, California to Las Vegas, Nevada via Laughlin, Nevada will end on April 25th and be replaced with Thruway service from Kingman, Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada via Laughlin. It is hard to imagine why this change would occur unless the contractor operating the thruway van service from Needles is canceling their contract... Does anyone know? Anthony? It's in your neck of the woods.
While the thruway service will still depart from the Las Vegas Airport at the same time (9:45pm, daily) and arrive into Kingman, AZ to meet the train at about 1:30am (that's what it should be, the Amtrak reservations website currently shows 12:20am but that would only leave 5 minutes for the Laughlin to Kingman portion of the trip, not possible considering its 33 miles), it would break the connection TO westbound train 3 to Los Angeles. Returning from Kingman to Las Vegas, the thruway service would leave Kingman at 11:55pm, effectively breaking the connection FROM train 4.
Distancewise the two stations are not very far apart and it is only about 12 miles further from Laughlin to Kingman than it is to Needles, but it still doesn't make sense why they are doing this for the following reasons:
1. The connection at Needles allowed passengers from both the east and west to connect to the thruway to Laughlin and Las Vegas since the trains arrived very close to each other (wb 12:49am and eb 1:22am) vs. Kingman where the trains arrive (wb 11:46pm and eb 2:03am).
2. The new schedule would require TWO thruway vans since the one from Vegas would not arrive at the Kingman station until after the one to Vegas already left.
Any thoughts? <_<
While the thruway service will still depart from the Las Vegas Airport at the same time (9:45pm, daily) and arrive into Kingman, AZ to meet the train at about 1:30am (that's what it should be, the Amtrak reservations website currently shows 12:20am but that would only leave 5 minutes for the Laughlin to Kingman portion of the trip, not possible considering its 33 miles), it would break the connection TO westbound train 3 to Los Angeles. Returning from Kingman to Las Vegas, the thruway service would leave Kingman at 11:55pm, effectively breaking the connection FROM train 4.
Distancewise the two stations are not very far apart and it is only about 12 miles further from Laughlin to Kingman than it is to Needles, but it still doesn't make sense why they are doing this for the following reasons:
1. The connection at Needles allowed passengers from both the east and west to connect to the thruway to Laughlin and Las Vegas since the trains arrived very close to each other (wb 12:49am and eb 1:22am) vs. Kingman where the trains arrive (wb 11:46pm and eb 2:03am).
2. The new schedule would require TWO thruway vans since the one from Vegas would not arrive at the Kingman station until after the one to Vegas already left.
Any thoughts? <_<