Odd Station Hours

[ThayerATM]

Why is it that Amtrak's RVR (Richmond VA -Staples Mill Road) station is open 24/7, with ticketing hours 24/7, Quik-Trak Kiosk Hours 24/7, and Checked Baggage hours 24/7 --- while:

NYP (New York-Penn Station) [also open 24/7] has ticketing hours only from 5:10am to 9:50 pm, and Checked Baggage Hours only from 5:15am to 9:45pm? :unsure:

And appearing even stranger to me... <_<

CHI (Chicago IL-Union Station) is only OPEN from 5:30am 'till midnight, with ticketing hours 6:00am to 9:00pm, Kiosk Hours from 5:30 am to midnight, and Checked Baggage hours from 8:00am to 9:30pm. hboy:

Considering the habitually late Empire Builder (8) arriving into CHI long after the departure of the latest connecting train (48) has left, it is cheaper for Amtrak to close the station, and put everyone up for the night in a hotel, refund sleeper fares, and then try and somehow get everyone on the next departing train? :wacko:

Seems to me to be a strange way to run a railroad.

 

[Eric S]

My initial response was going to be that RVR must have a train scheduled very early or late, such that it did not really make sense to close down at any point overnight. (PGH is an example of that, I believe.) However, a quick glance at the timetable shows that not to be the case, at least I didn't notice any trains scheduled to pass through overnight (although I suppose I could have missed something).

RVR's 24/7 status does, indeed, seem odd. The hours for NYP & CHI seem reasonable, though, with both stations having services generally available when most trains depart/arrive/pass through.

 

[gdj]

My initial response was going to be that RVR must have a train scheduled very early or late, such that it did not really make sense to close down at any point overnight. (PGH is an example of that, I believe.) However, a quick glance at the timetable shows that not to be the case, at least I didn't notice any trains scheduled to pass through overnight (although I suppose I could have missed something).

RVR's 24/7 status does, indeed, seem odd. The hours for NYP & CHI seem reasonable, though, with both stations having services generally available when most trains depart/arrive/pass through.

It hasn't been that long since the southbound Silver Meteor passed through here between 1200 - 1230 am. The northbound Silver Meteor has in my memory been an early train.

Gary

 

[rtabern]

I think there are probably 2 reasons for Chicago Union Station closing overnight. There are no trains leaving between 12:35AM and 5:00AM... so no reason for the train station to be open per say. I think the last Metra leaves for the night at 12:35AM. NYP has trains coming and going all night and needs to be open. Plus, I think the Amtrak Police don't want people using the station as a hotel and having homeless people sleep in the station all night. I think if there is a late train getting in they will keep it open... or atleast let the people getting off the train spend the night in the station with a valid ticket for the next day.

 

[Michael061282]

My initial response was going to be that RVR must have a train scheduled very early or late, such that it did not really make sense to close down at any point overnight. (PGH is an example of that, I believe.) However, a quick glance at the timetable shows that not to be the case, at least I didn't notice any trains scheduled to pass through overnight (although I suppose I could have missed something).

RVR's 24/7 status does, indeed, seem odd. The hours for NYP & CHI seem reasonable, though, with both stations having services generally available when most trains depart/arrive/pass through.

It hasn't been that long since the southbound Silver Meteor passed through here between 1200 - 1230 am. The northbound Silver Meteor has in my memory been an early train.

Gary

The southbound Meteor is scheduled through at 930ish, the northbound comes along around 5:00am, but also you get the early birds for the 6:00, 7:00 and 8:00 am DC trains that start showing up around the time of the Meteor. They probably could close between the Meteors, but the station isn't really near the city itself and there isn't really any problems late night over there. Also the couple times that I have caught the northbound Meteor, I arrived at 4:15 or so and the lobby was already pretty busy.

 

[Anderson]

The Northbound Meteor is scheduled for 5 AM...but I wouldn't be surprised if, back when they also had the Silver Palm, one of the three trains wasn't running through in the middle of the night.

In the case of NYP...I think the closing is slightly more nominal, to clear out the homeless folks, than anything (they've got some other rules in this general vein, too). If you've got a scheduled train (like the Nite Owl), I'd think there's somewhere in the station you can wait.

 

[fairviewroad]

In the case of NYP...I think the closing is slightly more nominal, to clear out the homeless folks, than anything (they've got some other rules in this general vein, too). If you've got a scheduled train (like the Nite Owl), I'd think there's somewhere in the station you can wait.

As noted upthread, in the case of NYP, the station doesn't close for the night...just the ticket windows. I doubt the cops use the closure of ticket

windows as a pretense to harass homeless people.