New Timetables

[coachseats]

I just noticed that today the new timetables to take effect next week have been uploaded to the amtrak.com website under each trains respective web pages. This may be of intrest of those who won't have the opportunity to get a printed copy in the near future.

 

[Anthony]

"Schedule changes ... go into effect on Oct. 27 with added weekday Acela Express and Metroliner frequencies offering passengers more convenient morning and afternoon weekday service. Sunday afternoon Empire Service is restored from Niagara Falls to New York and the Cardinal, previously operating Chicago to Washington, D.C., is extended to New York."

 

[Amfleet]

I'm confused here. The new Cardinal timetable says that on Sunday it departs at 9:05am, the same departure time as Regional #155. So does this mean a couple of Amfleet I Coaches are tacked on the rear of #51 from NYC to WAS. Does this also mean you can detrain #51 at NEC stations unlike the Silver Service and Three Rivers.

 

[battalion51]

Negative. Cardinal will work just like any other long distance train on the corridor, discharge only NB and recieve only SB. It's not uncommon for more than one train to have the same departure time as another, the SB Meteor gets out 1 minute behind Acela 2171 and six minutes after Regional 159. So it is commonplace for long distance trains to have the same departure time from NYP as other trains.

 

[Viewliner]

That's interesting to ponder. If the trains are combined, then in theory they would.

 

[battalion51]

In all reality that's more of a pain in the neck than its worth. First off 155 makes local stops that the Cardinal doesn't. Second you're going to have to doublehead locomotives to get enough power on a beasty train like that. Second you would need about 4 Assistant Conductors to work that entire train because of its length and the number of people on it. Then if there's an accident it's a paperwork nightmare as there could easily be 600 people on that train. Then there's the issue of platform size, the train would easily be 15 cars long, longer than most platforms on the NEC. Once in Washington a switcher would have to drag the Cardinal to the low platforms since 155 terminates in Washington on the high level platforms. All in all it's a lot of work with little to no benefit for the average Joe.

 

[PRR 60]

The Cardinal will operate combined with #155 on Sunday only. Presumably, the Sunday morning demand on 155 is low enough to permit an efficient combined operation (at least more efficient than running two trains). On Wednesday and Friday the Cardinal will be run as a separate train on the NEC. Although the equipment runs through, on Sunday the NEC portion of the Cardinal is designated as Train 155 and Train 51 technically originates in DC. That being the case, you will indeed be able to hop off the westbound Cardinal at intermediate stops on the NEC on Sunday.

Whether or not cars will be removed in DC I do not know. However, the Carolinian at least used to do just that. It arrived on a low level platform WAS track and had several Amfleet coaches pulled off the back to resize the train for the trip south to Charlotte.

 

[AlanB]

Well I'm not sure just what Amtrak plans to do, but either one train will always be late on it's entire run, they are going to change the schedule for one of the trains, or they are going to combine the two trains.

You are right B51 Amtrak does have some trains that leave Penn at the same time or at least within a minute of one another. That works in Penn with 21 tracks to choose from.

However in this case Amtrak must choose one of the above options, since both 155 and the Cardinal are carded to stop at Newark, Trenton, Philly, Wilmington, and Baltimore at the same time. That is impossible, unless they are combing the trains into one consist.

 

[AlanB]

Presumably, the Sunday morning demand on 155 is low enough to permit an efficient combined operation (at least more efficient than running two trains).

It may also have something to do with the weekend tunnel work that removes one of the Hudson River tunnels from operation. They may need to combine the trains just to have enough slots in the tunnel for the number of trains needing to get through to NJ in that half-hour window.

Although I suspect that you are also correct PRR60 that ridership is light at that hour on a Sunday morning.