Why is New Haven - Springfield Shuttle All Reserved?

[Paul Dow]

The recent thread on Hiawatha ticketing got be wondering why the shuttle service between Springfield, Mass and New Haven requires reserved seating.

As I think about it further, it may be because so many of the stations along the route are just bus shelters without Quik Trak machines. They would want people to get tickets in advance, and not have to bother the people on the train for the ticket purchase. Still, it seems like more trouble than necessary for a route they want to expand to regular commuter service.

I'm in favor of improved rail service, but spending $480 Million on a 63 mile route with 8 stations to enable any so called high speed service doesn't make sense. How can the train ever get up to any high speed if it has to slow down for another station so quickly?

 

[amamba]

I believe all NEC regional trains, including the new haven-springfield shuttle which is an offshoot/connection, are all reserved. It does sell out during the holidays and such.

 

[acelafan]

I'm in favor of improved rail service, but spending $480 Million on a 63 mile route with 8 stations to enable any so called high speed service doesn't make sense. How can the train ever get up to any high speed if it has to slow down for another station so quickly?

True, maybe it should be called "higher speed" rail. Upgrading New Haven to Springfield would definitely help re-build the old "inland route" of the Northeast Corridor and help expand the passenger rail network. There was talk about electrifying that corridor, too, but I'm sure it would exceed that 480 million figure.

 

[battalion51]

The trains may be all reserved, but the folks who are commuters that use the service use multi-ride tickets. The multi-ride tickets are good on any Regional and don't require reservations.

 

[amamba]

Well any commuters on the NEC with a monthly pass or using multi-ride tickets don't have reservations. That is not unique to the Springfield/New Haven route. I have taken that train a few times and didn't notice that it appeared to have a heavy commuter load. I wonder if there is any way to get information on how many people have monthly/commuter passes between certain city pairs? I also think many more people would commute on amtrak if it was less expensive, at least in the PVD - BOS market.

 

[NJCoastExp]

When you consider that about 90% of people riding on shuttles are connecting to Regionals (which are 100% reserved with no onboard sales) it makes sense to do all reserved train. Especially when only 2 stations on the line have QT or agents available.

 

[battalion51]

Well any commuters on the NEC with a monthly pass or using multi-ride tickets don't have reservations. That is not unique to the Springfield/New Haven route. I have taken that train a few times and didn't notice that it appeared to have a heavy commuter load. I wonder if there is any way to get information on how many people have monthly/commuter passes between certain city pairs? I also think many more people would commute on amtrak if it was less expensive, at least in the PVD - BOS market.

I believe the Conductors are required to fill out a passenger information receipt (or something like that) that has the Passenger name, points traveling between, and reservation number. I'm guessing they do this because that's what they had us do back in the day with the Florida Rail Pass. This is important so there is an accurate count not only for statistical purposes, but also for emergency situations when a passenger count is needed. I know this is probably unlikely, but it does seem feasible that they would be able to forecast the number of pass riders per train and load that into ARROW accordingly to reduce the amount of available space for ticketed passengers.

 

[amamba]

Well any commuters on the NEC with a monthly pass or using multi-ride tickets don't have reservations. That is not unique to the Springfield/New Haven route. I have taken that train a few times and didn't notice that it appeared to have a heavy commuter load. I wonder if there is any way to get information on how many people have monthly/commuter passes between certain city pairs? I also think many more people would commute on amtrak if it was less expensive, at least in the PVD - BOS market.

I believe the Conductors are required to fill out a passenger information receipt (or something like that) that has the Passenger name, points traveling between, and reservation number. I'm guessing they do this because that's what they had us do back in the day with the Florida Rail Pass. This is important so there is an accurate count not only for statistical purposes, but also for emergency situations when a passenger count is needed. I know this is probably unlikely, but it does seem feasible that they would be able to forecast the number of pass riders per train and load that into ARROW accordingly to reduce the amount of available space for ticketed passengers.

Maybe they do this for rail passes or multi-ride tickets, but my H rides daily between BOS and PVD with a commuter ticket and the conductors have never requested this information from him or filled out a passenger receipt for him. What would be the point? Seems like a lot of paperwork. He doesn't have a reservation number, just a ticket number, and he uses the same ticket every day except at the end of the month they pull it and he keeps the stub so he can get his AGR points.

 

[battalion51]

Well any commuters on the NEC with a monthly pass or using multi-ride tickets don't have reservations. That is not unique to the Springfield/New Haven route. I have taken that train a few times and didn't notice that it appeared to have a heavy commuter load. I wonder if there is any way to get information on how many people have monthly/commuter passes between certain city pairs? I also think many more people would commute on amtrak if it was less expensive, at least in the PVD - BOS market.

I believe the Conductors are required to fill out a passenger information receipt (or something like that) that has the Passenger name, points traveling between, and reservation number. I'm guessing they do this because that's what they had us do back in the day with the Florida Rail Pass. This is important so there is an accurate count not only for statistical purposes, but also for emergency situations when a passenger count is needed. I know this is probably unlikely, but it does seem feasible that they would be able to forecast the number of pass riders per train and load that into ARROW accordingly to reduce the amount of available space for ticketed passengers.

Maybe they do this for rail passes or multi-ride tickets, but my H rides daily between BOS and PVD with a commuter ticket and the conductors have never requested this information from him or filled out a passenger receipt for him. What would be the point? Seems like a lot of paperwork. He doesn't have a reservation number, just a ticket number, and he uses the same ticket every day except at the end of the month they pull it and he keeps the stub so he can get his AGR points.

Well I hope they're at least noting that he's there. I would hate for there to be a catastrophic accident and the Conductor's don't have an accurate count of how many people are on board...