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http://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/208/804/Amtrak-System-Timetable-Winter-Spring-2016.pdf

In the approximately half hour I went through it...

The Thruway Bus service from PGH to Columbus has been extended to Trotwood-Dayton (Greater Dayton RTA Northwest Transportation Center) and Indianapolis's Amtrak station. I guess this makes Dayton an Amtrak city (Code: DAT). The problem is they they would have to sit in Pittsburgh's glorious station westbound during the graveyard shift. I'd rather get on a train at 3am than have to wait three hours in a deserted Amtrak station in the middle of the night or before 7am. They show connections to/from both the Capitol Limited and Pennsylvanian but the Thruway Bus to Columbus/Dayton (8029) doesn't leave until 3:40am, almost four hours after the westbound CL leaves PGH and 6.5 hours after the Pennsylvanian arrives in PGH. Eastbound (8030) there is less of a delay (arriving in PGH at 4:20am). Maybe this could lead to a Cincinnati-Dayton-Columbus-Pittsburgh train? A more natural progression would be a Thruway bus from Columbus (COL) and Dayton (DAT) to Indy to connect with the Hoosier State/Cardinal allowing for travel from Ohio to west of Chicago although I am sure the wait time in IND would be comparable going west to that at PGH going East.

Bad news for diner car fans (don't shoot the messenger, at least on this issue). They no longer list diner car service on the Silver Star. Maybe the diner-less car is permanent. "Dining: Full meal service on Trains 97 and 98."
 
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Philly Amtrak Fan said:
The Thruway Bus service from PGH to Columbus has been extended to Trotwood-Dayton (Greater Dayton RTA Northwest Transportation Center) and Indianapolis's Amtrak station. I guess this makes Dayton an Amtrak city (Code: DAT). The problem is they they would have to sit in Pittsburgh's glorious station westbound during the graveyard shift. I'd rather get on a train at 3am than have to wait three hours in a deserted Amtrak station in the middle of the night or before 7am. They show connections to/from both the Capitol Limited and Pennsylvanian but the Thruway Bus to Columbus/Dayton (8029) doesn't leave until 3:40am, almost four hours after the westbound CL leaves PGH and 6.5 hours after the Pennsylvanian arrives in PGH. Eastbound (8030) there is less of a delay (arriving in PGH at 4:20am).
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The problem here is that it's a non-dedicated Thruway connection. Greyhound, the operator, sets the times for its own purposes. Making it an Amtrak codeshare allows more cities to appear in the Amtrak national system, but it's no substitution for actual Amtrak service.

There are lots of these Thruway "connections" that are technically bookable but serve only the desperate or the masochists among us. Try booking a ticket from Chicago to Missoula, Montana, for instance. Or worse yet, from Missoula to Chicago. Both involve 9+ hours of layover in the middle of North Dakota...the latter even utilitizes a "Thruway Taxi" to get you from the Minot bus station to the Minot train station...where you can enjoy your 15 hour layover until the Empire Builder shows up.

Another so-called Thruway connection allows you to transfer from the California Zephyr to a Greyhound route up to Ogden, Twin Falls, etc. IF you're willing to wait from 3 a.m. until 12 noon in the Salt Lake City bus station.

Or, you can connect from the Zephyr to an Amtrak Thruway (i.e. Greyhound) bus to Colorado Springs, Pueblo, etc. All it requires is a 12 hour layover in Denver. Now, that might not be a bad thing...it's 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. so you effectively get a free daylong stopover in Denver...but it's not really a good option for people who actually want to, you know, get somewhere in a timely manner.
 
The same problem exists at Tuscaloosa, AL. Five hour wait time between bus and train northbound. Five hours? What to do in Tuscaloosa?!
 
So, regarding tains 91/92, if you want full meal service you have to "brown bag" your own? And, have sleeping car fares been adjusted (lower, perhaps) to reflect that there are no more meals included with that first class ticket?
 
Riverviewer said:
So, regarding tains 91/92, if you want full meal service you have to "brown bag" your own? And, have sleeping car fares been adjusted (lower, perhaps) to reflect that there are no more meals included with that first class ticket?
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Yes. Sleeping car fares have been adjusted quite a bit lower.
 
And brain-dead Thruway connections aren't limited to Long Distance trains. For instance, Amtrak publishes a Milwaukee-Menomonie Thruway bus service, operated by Jefferson Bus Lines. Northbound, there's a nice, logical 70 minute connection from a Hiawatha to the Jefferson bus.

But southbound...WHY?

The southbound bus is due into MKE at 7:30 p.m. The last southbound Hiawatha leaves MKE at 7:35 p.m. Naturally, Amtrak does not wish to guarantee a 5 minute bus-to-train connection. In fact, the timetable specifically notes that this connection is not permitted. In addition, when you try to book a Menomonie-Milwaukee standalone ticket, you cannot since it's a "book-with-train" Thruway. The only way I have found to actually book a Thruway ticket on that bus leg is to do a multi-city, in which case you can either roll the dice and self-book the 5 minute connection, or else stay the night in MKE on your own dime. But for all intents and purposes, Amtrak will book you a ticket to Menomonie but you CAN NEVER LEAVE.

Naturally, this is an academic exercise since I am not in the market for a bus ticket to Menomonie. It's just an example of how the Amtrak timetable is cluttered with useless Thruway connections that serve virtually no one. I mean, heaven forbid that the Jefferson Bus depart Menomonie an hour earlier in order to make the Hiawatha connection. Of the Hiawatha depart later, or some combination of the two. But seriously, why even publish this as a connection?
 
I'm a bit surprised that the MKE bus can't be pushed back at least a half-hour. I wonder if Amtrak could convince Jefferson Lines to do so.

That thruway bus from Missoula to Minot isn't completely terrible...for me the worst part is that the transfer starts so early in the morning. If it got in at 7 AM and the taxi was a bit flexible, I could see some fun in spending a day in Minot (after all, "why not Minot?") but it is frustrating that the connection is essentially there just to be there. They seem to make sense for some trips but not others...the connection is good going west, but I'm not sure people want to backtrack from Missoula all the way to Minot.
 
fairviewroad said:
Naturally, this is an academic exercise since I am not in the market for a bus ticket to Menomonie. It's just an example of how the Amtrak timetable is cluttered with useless Thruway connections that serve virtually no one. I mean, heaven forbid that the Jefferson Bus depart Menomonie an hour earlier in order to make the Hiawatha connection. Of the Hiawatha depart later, or some combination of the two. But seriously, why even publish this as a connection?
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It is published, non connection! Let's make some more. Let's publish train 64 (the Maple Leaf) arriving NYP at 2150hrs to (non) connect with Amtrak regional 177, departing NYP at 2205hrs.

Wait, isn't there a thread about using city codes?
 
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I've often thought that it would be worthwhile to brand non-dedicated Thruway services (such as those operated by Greyhound, for example) different from dedicated Thruway services (such as Amtrak California Thruway buses). Stick with the Thruway name for non-dedicated services perhaps, and re-brand dedicated services as something like AmtrakDirect or AmtrakConnect (yes, I know that's the wifi service) or some such thing maybe?

Perhaps the distinction would go unnoticed by most but to me it might make sense.
 
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