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as I posted a while back : the trains involved in GCT operation are :230/233 -- 236/235 -- 242/239

there should be no changes to schedule or reservations.
Then I imagine many passengers will be surprised when they arrive at GCT instead of NYP. And how will the reservations system handle the connections since passengers will now be required to transfer between the two?

jb
 
Change of station is a change in schedule and itinerary which Amtrak should be notifying its customers individually and collectively about, unless it has decided to become measurably worse than the worst airline.

We are yet to see the modified schedules. We don't know whether Amtrak will re-institute the transfer bus between NYP and NYG. I am almost ecrtain that any guaranteed transfer itinerary will be modified to reflect the extra time needed for the transfer.
 
Wouldn't connections in nyp involve taking a train to nyp and then catching the next train? One would think that a person booking a trip from alb-mia would be booked through nyp. Might be a longer layover.
 
Wouldn't connections in nyp involve taking a train to nyp and then catching the next train? One would think that a person booking a trip from alb-mia would be booked through nyp. Might be a longer layover.
The issue is when the normal connecting train from the Empire Corridor arrives in NYG. If only the west of Albany trains operate to NYP on a modified schedule, that will also have to be taken into account.
 
We are yet to see the modified schedules. We don't know whether Amtrak will re-institute the transfer bus between NYP and NYG. I am almost ecrtain that any guaranteed transfer itinerary will be modified to reflect the extra time needed for the transfer.

What I was hoping us that Amtrak's reservation system could be programmed to automatically do that. I suspect I'm being to optimistic.
These are some of the details still being worked on. While the res system can likely handle it (which is did in the past), there needs to be a mode of transfer (which is an issue). At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if this became a self transfer with through travel arriving on scheduled NYP trains.

In any event, they were supposed to run a test train into GCT to test the third rail shoe conversion and 51 will carry travel from NWK and TRE over the corridor.
 
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as I posted a while back : the trains involved in GCT operation are :230/233 -- 236/235 -- 242/239

there should be no changes to schedule or reservations.
Then I imagine many passengers will be surprised when they arrive at GCT instead of NYP. And how will the reservations system handle the connections since passengers will now be required to transfer between the two?

jb
I would imagine a fair number of Empire route passenger's would actually prefer arriving/departing from GCT, if it could be on a permanent basis....
 
Count me in when it comes to running more Trains to/from GCT including the Lake Shore!

I just watched "North by Northwest" last night on TCM! The 20th Century out of GCT ( Roll out the Red Carpet!) was " The way to Roll"

back in the Golden Days of Passenger Rail!
 
While that would be nostalgic, I think the long distance trains should remain at Penn Station, for the benefit of transfer's, etc....but a few regional trains from Albany or Boston to GCT, for the benefit of those simply destined to that side of town, would be a convenience for many...
 
Notice I only mentioned the Lake Shore to/from GCT since it Begins/Terminates in NY and is a North by Northwest bound train! All other LD Trains head South so they can stay at NYP like in the PRR Glory Days!
 
Much as I love GCT, establishing a new commissary, a new baggage claim, a new lounge, asking passengers from the NEC North of NY to transfer to MN to get to GCT(they aren't going to go to Boston for a ridiculously long trip across Mass) and handling maintenance since the train won';t go to SSYD for one train, just is not going to happen.
 
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Notice I only mentioned the Lake Shore to/from GCT since it Begins/Terminates in NY and is a North by Northwest bound train! All other LD Trains head South so they can stay at NYP like in the PRR Glory Days!
It won't happen simply because it will increase cost of operation seriously without any significant growth in revenue. That additional money is much better spent elsewhere where it could be more productive.
 
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Of course y'all are right, but we all have our Train Fantasy!

As someone who actually got to ride to/from GCT and NYP during the Golden Days just can't forget how nice it was compared to today's NYD! ((D=Dungeon)
 
Of course y'all are right, but we all have our Train Fantasy!

As someone who actually got to ride to/from GCT and NYP during the Golden Days just can't forget how nice it was compared to today's NYD! ((D=Dungeon)
We understand your fantasy. I like the idea of arriving in the grandeur of Grand Central myself. But the problem is that foamers spend too much time actually lobbying for public transit resources that should be allocated to projects that functionally approve the effectiveness and reliability of public transit, for the purpose of doing things like restoring and arriving in a grand ediface... when for instance the purpose of this thread is that we are going to have a mess this summer because said resources were not available to maintain the reliable function of a major terminal.
 
I grew up in a no car household, and had relatives living in Baltimore, going out of Penn was how we got there. I'm sure it was a wonderful place at one time, but I don't remember it being so nice in the 60's, PRR let it get pretty bad, and the neighborhood was dicey. While many of us wax nostalgically about "the great old Penn Station" if half the number of people who say today how terrible it was to get rid of it and build MSG were against replacing it then, it might still be there. Like the WTC, until it got knocked down, most people I know would tell you how they couldn't stand it. Luckily, its (Penn Station) demise led to a changed attitude about landmarks preservation, and we still have GCT.
 
We understand your fantasy. I like the idea of arriving in the grandeur of Grand Central myself. But the problem is that foamers spend too much time actually lobbying for public transit resources that should be allocated to projects that functionally approve the effectiveness and reliability of public transit, for the purpose of doing things like restoring and arriving in a grand ediface... when for instance the purpose of this thread is that we are going to have a mess this summer because said resources were not available to maintain the reliable function of a major terminal.
This is the line of thinking that concerns me. All the funding in the world is not going to help an overstuffed, outdated piece of infrastructure. The biggest resource is actually time. There isn't enough time to get everything that needs to get done between the trains.

Take a look at the whining that is occurring a for two month project. Can you imagine if Amtrak decided to take the necessary step of undercutting the High Line? That would mean a few weeks of single tracking between NWK-NYP. The reality of the situation is no one wants to give up their slots or train to perform the work. As such, projects occur 55 hours at a time, which is insane for the amount of traffic that NYP sustains.

The thing that amuses me the most is the railroads STILL want to stiff more trains into NYP, knowing that is overburdened. For every additional train that is run, that is another slot of maintenance lost and another minute of lost life expectancy.

I've said it for years. The resources need diversification and better utilization. Amtrak going to GCT with a few trains is a start in the right direction. It would be nice if this were a permanent solution. I seriously hope all of these alternative plans work so well, that a lot of them become permanent solutions to the overcrowding of Penn. As one editor wrote in response to Gov "Pay attention to me" Cuomo's ludicrous and whiny 'it will be a summer of "Hell", we're already in Hell!"
 
Not mentioned in Amtrak's press releases as far as I can tell: The Meteor, Star, and Cardinal are available for coach booking SB NYP-WAS (the Crescent is excluded for obvious reasons). Also not highlighted: The Crescent's timetable got shoved back by about 90 minutes (it now leaves WAS at 1955), something which is actually going to improve my trip to Atlanta for DragonCon slightly (if nothing else, I can relax more at breakfast). 97 is actually the Crescent's connection at WAS...but pax can only book a roomette starting at WAS (I have to presume that there will either be a very big dinner seating out of WAS or a bunch of seriously annoyed Crescent pax).

An interesting wrinkle with this shuffle: The Crescent now probably only needs three sets (I would sure hope that 20 could turn as 19 in 8 hours, and I suspect the later time out of WAS was to accommodate this), so that saves a diner, two Viewliners, and I suspect four LD Amfleets. Is there any discussion about where this equipment might show up? The Viewliners seem like candidates for the Cardinal, but considering the oft-mentioned booking issues on here I'd seriously consider the LSL to be a solid use of the stuff (even if the train could only run longer four days out of the week, that's got be better than idling the equipment).

Considering the whole cluster surrounding this, I'm sort-of surprised that Amtrak didn't open up any of the LD trains to bookings NB with a note of "Look, this train is coming from New Orleans/Miami/Chicago and OTP may stink." Axing three Regionals is nothing to sneeze at (even if I incessantly forget which Regionals got cut) and for once I have to presume that they really need the capacity (even if they might need to lock some of the space). Normally I do understand why this isn't done, but this isn't "normally" either.
 
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Not mentioned in Amtrak's press releases as far as I can tell: The Meteor, Star, and Cardinal are available for coach booking SB NYP-WAS (the Crescent is excluded for obvious reasons). Also not highlighted: The Crescent's timetable got shoved back by about 90 minutes (it now leaves WAS at 1955), something which is actually going to improve my trip to Atlanta for DragonCon slightly (if nothing else, I can relax more at breakfast). 97 is actually the Crescent's connection at WAS...but pax can only book a roomette starting at WAS (I have to presume that there will either be a very big dinner seating out of WAS or a bunch of seriously annoyed Crescent pax).

An interesting wrinkle with this shuffle: The Crescent now probably only needs three sets (I would sure hope that 20 could turn as 19 in 8 hours, and I suspect the later time out of WAS was to accommodate this), so that saves a diner, two Viewliners, and I suspect four LD Amfleets. Is there any discussion about where this equipment might show up? The Viewliners seem like candidates for the Cardinal, but considering the oft-mentioned booking issues on here I'd seriously consider the LSL to be a solid use of the stuff (even if the train could only run longer four days out of the week, that's got be better than idling the equipment).

Considering the whole cluster surrounding this, I'm sort-of surprised that Amtrak didn't open up any of the LD trains to bookings NB with a note of "Look, this train is coming from New Orleans/Miami/Chicago and OTP may stink." Axing three Regionals is nothing to sneeze at (even if I incessantly forget which Regionals got cut) and for once I have to presume that they really need the capacity (even if they might need to lock some of the space). Normally I do understand why this isn't done, but this isn't "normally" either.
I believe ThirdRail7 already answered your questions.
The time was pushed back to allow one of the silvers to be the feeder from the north.

Some or all of the cars will stay in WAS as protect.
 
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