Who said anything about cutting a train? :unsure:I would doubt that! The popularity is HIGH for the Piedmont and Amtrak and the State of NC wouldn't cut the Second Piedmont train. Ridership SKYROCKETED! See this topic for Piedmont ridership numbers. As you can see that is why they wouldn't cut it. If they are switching back to one Piedmont a day and the Carolinian then Amtrak is going to have to deal with extreme overcrowding. Just think of how much sense that doesn't make.
Three trains each way every day: Is that Piedmont, Carolinian, and Silver or 2 Piedmont and Carolinian?They're switching back to three trains each way every day, as of Monday. For some reason the Piedmont schedule for next week isn't yet on the state's site either (bytrain.org). I would assume that it will be posted there first. But for what it's worth, the employees on the train seem to think that CSX is on schedule to finish track work so that the schedule will actually go back on time, so the schedule should be back to three a day each way.
You can get train times for next week's trains on amtrak.com. But I think the delay in posting the timetable is that they're proposing slight changes to a couple of the times. I'm pretty sure a conductor showed me the proposed timetable when I was on the train last week, and it didn't deviate much from the old times. But I also think it wasn't exactly what is now showing up on amtrak.com for next week's times. Either way, unless you're making some connection that wouldn't work if you're off by 15 minutes, it shouldn't be a problem--and if you are, you probably don't want to be relying on the train to be perfectly on-time anyway.
2 Piedmont and Carolinian.Three trains each way every day: Is that Piedmont, Carolinian, and Silver or 2 Piedmont and Carolinian?They're switching back to three trains each way every day, as of Monday. For some reason the Piedmont schedule for next week isn't yet on the state's site either (bytrain.org). I would assume that it will be posted there first. But for what it's worth, the employees on the train seem to think that CSX is on schedule to finish track work so that the schedule will actually go back on time, so the schedule should be back to three a day each way.
You can get train times for next week's trains on amtrak.com. But I think the delay in posting the timetable is that they're proposing slight changes to a couple of the times. I'm pretty sure a conductor showed me the proposed timetable when I was on the train last week, and it didn't deviate much from the old times. But I also think it wasn't exactly what is now showing up on amtrak.com for next week's times. Either way, unless you're making some connection that wouldn't work if you're off by 15 minutes, it shouldn't be a problem--and if you are, you probably don't want to be relying on the train to be perfectly on-time anyway.
Silver Star is not part of the Piedmont/Carolinian service. It does not go to Greensboro and Charlotte.Three trains each way every day: Is that Piedmont, Carolinian, and Silver or 2 Piedmont and Carolinian?
Yes, I'm sorry I wasn't clear. To clarify for Acela150, they've been running an abbreviated schedule for 10 weeks. Monday through Thursday, they've only run one Carolinian and one Piedmont in each direction, eliminating the midday trains while crews performed track work. Thursday is supposed to be the last day of that work. On Friday, there will be three Piedmont/Carolinian trains in each direction, and this should remain beyond the weekend. The only issue may be a slight change in the timetable.2 Piedmont and Carolinian.Three trains each way every day: Is that Piedmont, Carolinian, and Silver or 2 Piedmont and Carolinian?They're switching back to three trains each way every day, as of Monday.
That's the ridiculous part. The NC DOT actually found a cheap way to run a cafe car, by providing vending machines for snacks and soda and providing water and free coffee from a coffee machine. Some state legislator heard from someone that they were providing free stuff and couldn't stand it, so now he wants to micromanage something as minor as this. They need to just let the Rail Division run the trains, but I guess they can't accept that it's possible to run them well and at low cost.Of course, they could hire a union cafe worker to stand by the machine and dole it out for a buck a cup and perhaps recoup 25% of his salary...
If it ain't broke, tinker with it until it breaks. How else are we going to employ repairmen in our districts?
This reminds me of an old saying that in government, you find all of the problems that don't exist and then misapply the wrong solutions to them.If it ain't broke, tinker with it until it breaks. How else are we going to employ repairmen in our districts?
With that said, would the free drink issue impact the BC "perk" drink, or could Amtrak "include" that in the fare? (Actually, in that vein, Amtrak could conceivably redefine the basic fare on that route as "includes coffee")
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